Opposite Sides
by Tinkerbell3902
Summary: COMPLETE. AU. Lulu and Johnny find themselves in a modern day version of Romeo and Juliet. Lulu is adopted by Sonny and Carly Corinthos and Johnny is the crown prince of the Zacchara crime organization. Can love survive amongst such turmoil? JoLu FanFic
1. The Invitation

**Author's Note:** I have changed some significant familial relationships in order to make this story work. It will be said later in the story but I wanted to give you a heads up just so you won't be confused. The changes are as followed: Lulu is the adopted daughter of Sonny and Carly Corinthos, who are still married. Luke and Laura are Lulu's biological parents but disappeared years ago with Lucky and she was taken in by her cousin, Carly and was later adopted into the family. At the start of the story, Johnny and Lulu have not met. That's pretty much all that is crucial to understanding the story. Anything else that is mentioned that differs from the current storyline of General Hospital is just filler. Ok? Onwards!

**Chapter 1 – ****The Invitation**

The sun was setting as the driver pulled up to the large fortress type house and parked in the driveway. The town car door swung open and out popped out Lulu Spencer-Corinthos. She had her distressed leather messenger bag slung over her shoulder and was carrying a biology textbook in the opposite hand as she walked past the fountains and into the foyer. She was a sophomore at PCU but didn't live on campus. She thought it was stupid to live in a crappy dorm when she could just live at home and sleep in her queen sized bed. She walked past the study where she could hear Jason Morgan and Sonny talking about business in hushed voices. She never had the urge to listen into one of their conversations. She headed upstairs and nearly collided with Michael.

"Hey! Watch it!" he whined.

"Sorry, squirt…" she laughed.

"Dad wants to know if you were going out tonight or not because he was going to cook tonight." Michael said.

"Sonny's cooking tonight? Of course I'll be here! I'm so sick of the food in the cafeteria and I've got a huge biology test tomorrow morning that I need to study for." Lulu said, as she made her way upstairs.

She walked down the hallway and into her bedroom. She swung her bag onto her bed and dropped her textbook on the antique desk near the huge window across from the bed. She watched as little Morgan run around the backyard with one of his many toy airplanes. She could imagine the silly airplane noises that he was making as he swung the toy through the air and smiled. She turned back around to the desk and saw that awful biology textbook, staring at her… taunting her almost. She sat down at her desk and opened the book to the material that they were studying: Protein structures. She read but didn't absorb the material.

"Primary structure… secondary structure… tertiary structure… when am I ever going to need this??" she screamed and she shut the textbook as fast as she had opened it.

"Lulu!"

She perked up, hoping that she wasn't going to get into trouble for yelling.

"Yeah, Carly?" she called.

"Morgan wants to make brownies for dessert, do you think you could help him?" Lulu heard Carly say.

"Sure!" Lulu said.

She jumped out of her chair and headed downstairs. Carly was sitting at the kitchen counter, reading a magazine and talking to Sonny as he was chopping tomatoes for his homemade pasta sauce. Lulu's mouth began to water just thinking about it. Suddenly, she felt a tug at her sweater. Morgan was holding a box of brownie mix in one hand and her sweater in the other.

"Ready to make brownies?" she asked him and he nodded.

"So, Lulu… have you decided if you're going to go to the masquerade ball at the MetroCourt this weekend?" Carly asked.

"That's this weekend?" Lulu asked as she grabbed a mixing bowl out of the cabinet.

"Yeah… I just wanted to know if we needed to get a sitter for Michael and Morgan or not." Carly said, flipping through her magazine again.

"I don't know…" Lulu said, "I don't even have anything to wear."

"You've got that biology test tomorrow, right? Well, why don't you and Carly take a car into the city tomorrow to find a dress after class?" Sonny added.

"Great idea! Come on, Lulu… we can have a girls night out on the town!" Carly said.

"Yeah… and the boys and I can have some male bonding time." Sonny laughed.

"Alright! Alright…" Lulu said.

"Is Jason staying for dinner?" Morgan asked.

"Oh… no sweetheart, Little Danny has a cold and Sam called to tell Jason that they were heading to the doctor's office." Carly said.

"Ohhh…" Morgan said, eying Lulu as she mixed the brownie batter.

"It's nothing serious, is it?" Lulu asked.

"Probably not, babies catch colds all the time… Morgan!" Carly said.

She had caught him with his entire hand in the batter. Lulu and Sonny began laughing uncontrollably. Morgan smiled sheepishly and then began licking off the batter from his fingers. Carly rolled her eyes and went back to her magazine. These were the days that she loved being a part of the Corinthos clan… they made life seem… normal.

Johnny Zacchara was sitting in his father's study, softly playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. The room was dark with the exception of the one lit lamp on the desk. Nothing said "I'm brooding" quite like playing Moonlight Sonata in the dark. He loved playing the piano… it kind of made him forget that he was a certifiably insane and ruthless crime boss' son. Suddenly, there was a sharp knock at the door. Johnny stopped playing and turned around to face the door. Claudia was standing in the doorway, wearing her black dress and red pumps. She had her arms crossed and was smiling.

"Could you be any more melodramatic? Playing that song in daddy's study with all of the lights shut off?" She laughed, crossing the room towards the black lacquer grand piano.

"I identify with Beethoven…" he muttered.

"Really?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

"What do you want, Claudia?" he asked, slamming the piano cover down over the keys.

"Hey! Watch the attitude!" she snapped.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Listen… we've got to prepare for this takeover… Trevor can think that he's calling all of the shots but he's clearly mistaken," she said.

"And what are you going to do?" he asked, standing up.

He walked across the room to a table with a pitcher of water and poured himself a glass. Claudia walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"John… I need a favor." She said, smiling.

He laughed and took a large swig from his glass.

"And what would that be?" he asked.

"There's a masquerade ball at the MetroCourt Hotel in Port Charles on Saturday night and all I need you to do is to wear one of those nice Italian suits that I brought back for you and escort me." She said.

"Hell no," he laughed.

"Come on, Johnny! You won't do this one tiny favor for me? All you have to do is walk me through the doors, spin me around on the dance floor a few times, and drink a few drinks." She said.

"And what are you going to be doing?" he asked.

"Scoping out Sonny Corinthos and the people in Port Charles, of course," she said, maliciously.

"And you can do that without me," he said, walking over to the desk.

"So, you're telling me that you'd rather sit at home and do nothing while you could be downing free food and booze? God, you're lame, Johnny." She said.

"Either way, I'll be bored out of my mind… you know I hate stuff like that." He said.

"So, you'd pass up the chance to have women in low cut dresses throw themselves at you in your handsome suit? Should I be checking your manhood as well?" Claudia laughed.

Johnny rolled his eyes and put his feet on the desk. He didn't want to go to this ball thing. He hated wearing all of those stupid vests and cufflinks that go with a "proper" suit and especially when they were dumb to begin with. He knew that he would end up standing on the wall or outside for the entire time. However, he knew that Claudia would keep pestering him until he finally relented.

"Fine… but if it blows, I'm leaving." He said.

Claudia smiled and gave her little brother a kiss on the cheek and left the room. He crossed his arms and sat back in the squishy leather chair and closed his eyes. He could hear Trevor and Claudia arguing in the hallway. Shortly after, he heard one door slam shut and then a sharp banging on the door to Anthony's study. Before Johnny could even open his eyes, Trevor stormed into the study.

"What the hell?" Johnny growled.

"Did you tell your sister to go into Port Charles for this masquerade ball?" Trevor roared.

"You seem to forget that Claudia can think for herself," Johnny said.

"That's not an answer," Trevor barked.

"No, I didn't tell her to go into Port Charles… she begged me to escort her." Johnny said, sitting upright.

"She's going to get herself killed… wandering into Corinthos' territory." Trevor said.

"Like you really care, Trevor… everyone knows that you just want this empire for yourself… hey, one less Zacchara to get in the way of what you really want, right?" Johnny said coolly.

"Well, fine… if you insist on going, you're bringing body guards." Trevor said.

"And that won't look suspicious at all, Trevor." He said sarcastically.

"Exactly what I said," Claudia said, as she stood in the doorway.

"This is being reckless…" Trevor said.

"I don't plan on starting a mob war… I'm there to scope out the territory so we can come up with a strategy. Nothing more… nothing less." She said.

Trevor and Claudia began arguing again and Johnny went back to the piano and started playing Moonlight Sonata again. The slow repetitive nature of the song drowned out all of the rest of the world: the scheming and the plotting and the betrayal. He couldn't stand it. Beethoven was a lucky son of a bitch… what he wouldn't give to block out everything that was going on in his life.


	2. At First Sight

**Chapter 2 – At First Sight**

Lulu stood in her bedroom, looking at herself in the mirror. She and Carly had spent hours in Manhattan, running in and out of Barney's, Bendel's, Bergdorf's, and Neiman Marcus. Carly was so much fun to shop with. Sonny knew that they weren't only going to buy new dresses for the ball tonight so he made sure that he made a call to his accountant so that he wouldn't freak out when he got the credit card receipts.

"You look absolutely beautiful… I told you that blue was your color!"

Lulu swerved around to see Carly in her green dress. The two women laughed as they posed in front of the mirror like models. Carly was a perfect blend of the older sister that she never had and a maternal figure.

"How're my girls?"

Carly and Lulu whirled around to see Sonny in the doorway, with his boyish grin, and they all laughed. He was wearing a black tux with a green tie to go with Carly's green dress.

"Lulu, Milo's downstairs with the car… I hope you don't mind that I asked him to escort you." Sonny asked, wrapping his arm around Carly's waist.

"Of course not," Lulu said.

"And I think it made his day that Sonny asked him to escort you," Carly laughed.

"He's got a matching tie… it's very cute," Sonny chuckled.

Lulu walked over to her dresser to grab her white clutch bag and powder blue mask.

"Oh! My mask! It's still in the bedroom! Let me go get it!" Carly said, leaving the room.

"Can you get mine too?" Sonny called after her and she yelled back that she would.

"Well, don't you look spiffy?" Lulu teased.

"And you look gorgeous… like your mother." Sonny said, smiling.

She smiled and went to hug him. He was so different from her real father. Despite his profession, he was almost always there when she needed him. She loved her biological parents more than anything else in the world but she was now a part of a new family. Sonny didn't even hesitate to take Lulu in after Luke, Laura and Lucky disappeared. Sonny and Carly were there at her high school graduation and Sonny had even given Lulu her own trust fund like Michael and Morgan. They were the reason why she turned down a spot at New York University. They were the only family that had stuck together and she didn't want to leave that.

"Alright, Milo's probably getting anxious." Sonny said.

"Alright," she said, walking past him.

She came down the stairs and saw Milo straightening his tie in the mirror in the foyer. Milo had a huge crush on Lulu and made no secret of it. Milo was one of her closest friends but nothing had ever made her want more from him, much to Sonny's dismay. Sonny had been pushing her and Milo together since he decided that she was old enough to date. Milo did a double take when he saw her at the foot of the stairs.

"You look a—a—amazing." He stammered.

"Thank you, Milo… you're not looking too bad yourself." She said, smiling.

He extended his arm out to her and she wrapped her arm around his. They walked outside and the cold air of dusk brushed past Lulu's bare shoulders and she shivered, but not from the cold. It was as if the wind was trying to tell her something about this night.

"Lulu," Milo said, holding the door open.

She snapped out of her trance and stepped into the car. Milo closed the door and quickly ran around to the other side and slid into the car. He pulled out his mask and put it on, making a funny Phantom of the Opera type face that made Lulu laugh. She put on her mask and made a silly face back at him and he laughed.

"Are you excited?" he asked.

"More than you know," she said.

Johnny stepped out of the car as he put on his black mask. The night air was crisp and cool. He straightened out his jacket and held out his hand to help his sister out of the car. She was wearing a red dress with red strappy sandals. Trevor climbed out of the car after Claudia. He looked nervous but Claudia never faltered. They strolled into the lobby and into the elevator. The door opened to a lavishly decorated ballroom. Jasper Jacks and his wife Courtney Jacks spared no expense for the event. Every table had an array of finger foods and a bottle of expensive champagne on ice.

"Very nice," Claudia observed.

Trevor took Claudia's coat and went to coat check. She and Johnny circled around the ballroom and pointed out people of interest: Mayor Floyd, District Attorney Alexis Davis, various judges, The Jacks, and the Quartermaines. Claudia had been doing research on all of the inhabitants of Port Charles before her arrival. Johnny grabbed two champagne glasses and handed one to his sister.

"It trips me out that you're old enough to drink." Claudia said before taking a gulp.

"Sorry that we all went on with our lives after you left for school." Johnny mumbled.

Her gaze snapped towards him sharply and he shrugged. She rolled her eyes and went back to surveying the room. He was just about to take a sip when he saw the elevator doors open and he froze.

"Wow," he whispered.

His eyes widened and he sensed that his mouth was hanging open. She was the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen. She had hair like rolling golden fields and was wearing a strapless blue dress that had beads on the bodice and had a skirt part made out of tulle and a matching blue mask. She was holding a small white clutch bag in one hand and a beefy man's arm in the other.

"Excuse me," Johnny said, leaving his sister at the bar.

He crept along the wall of the ballroom, never taking his eyes off his blond beauty. The girl sat down at a table with her date and they began talking. As he got closer, he saw that she had beautiful light colored eyes and a smile that made him want to smile, which he hadn't done in a while.

"Can I help you?"

Johnny snapped out of his infatuated glance and saw the girl's escort standing in front of him.

"Sorry," Johnny muttered.

"Milo, no need to be rude." The girl said. She looked at him and smiled and held out her hand.

"My name's Lulu," she said.

_Lulu_. That was her name. He'd never heard of anyone having the name Lulu and he knew that he would never meet another one and frankly he didn't want to. She was perfect just the way that she was as she stood in front of him.

"Johnny," he said, taking her hand.

A sudden jolt shot through his fingers and his heart fluttered as he held her soft fingers in his hands. He smiled and she smiled back. Johnny could feel Milo seething behind him.

"Oh, and this is Milo… he works for my father." Lulu said.

He acknowledged him but nodding his head at him but couldn't contain his smile. So the beefcake wasn't her boyfriend. That was good for him.

"I don't think I've ever seen you here before… do you live in Port Charles?" she asked.

"Not exactly… I live about 25 miles outside of here." Johnny said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"So do you go to PCU?" she asked.

"No… I—uh—I work for the family business." He said.

"A mechanic in your father's shop?" Milo scoffed.

"Milo! That was rude!" Lulu said.

"No… it's ok… your friend wants to know… you see this suit I'm wearing? It's Caraceni… meaning it was custom made… in Milan. So, don't be so presumptuous." He said coolly.

Lulu snorted in order to stop from laughing and Milo opened his mouth to say something but his phone started to ring. He looked at the caller ID and told Lulu that he had to take this call. He immediately excused himself to go out on the terrace.

"Dance with me," he said, holding out his hand.

She held her hand above his but hesitated before she could place her hand in his. He was so handsome. His eyes were dark chocolate brown and he had a charismatic and slightly devious smile. His gaze was almost hypnotizing. Her fingers gently grazed his palm and he captured her hand in his. She felt herself being led to the dance floor. He turned her slowly and then brought her in close. She felt all of the color rush to her cheeks as he held her. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. He wore the most wonderful cologne and his arms were so safe, so strong, and so warm that she felt like she could fall asleep.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked.

"Sure," she said.

They left the dance floor and Lulu went to coat check to get her overcoat. They walked into the elevator and Johnny pushed the ground floor button.

"So what's your story, Lulu?" he asked, leaning against the elevator wall.

"There isn't enough time in the day to tell my story." She laughed.

"I've got nothing but time," he said.

Just as Johnny said that, the elevator doors opened. They made their way through the lobby, spotting Maxie Jones and her boyfriend Cooper Barrett kissing on the couch. Lulu rolled her eyes and laughed. She and Johnny walked outside to the gardens in the back of the hotel.

"Well, my biological parents aren't really in my life anymore… it's kind of complicated," Lulu started

"I understand complicated," Johnny said.

"They disappeared with my brother when I was about ten and my cousin and her husband took me in. They ended up adopting me a few years back. It's funny… I went from being in a middle-class family to being the Port Charles version of Paris Hilton because my adoptive family has more money than god." She laughed.

"My father is kind of certifiably insane… he lives in a home now and my mom's been dead for over fifteen years, and now my sister just moved back into our house after being gone for years.

"Wow, you do know complicated." She laughed.

He sat down on a bench and inhaled the night air. She sat down next to him and folded her arms. They sat in silence, staring up into the night sky.

"It's a nice night… one of those nights where you could spend hours counting the stars and never get bored of it." He said.

"Yeah it is… and I love this weather… when the air is fresh and cool but not cold." She whispered.

He looked at her and smiled. She looked back at him and felt herself blushing.

"What's got you so nervous?" he asked.

"Nothing! It's nothing…" she said.

He turned towards her and leaned in and kissed her. It caught her totally off guard and she felt his hand on her lower back, pulling her in towards him. As he kissed her, she felt so dizzy. When he pulled away, she was left in a trance for a moment.

"Well, there's no reason to be nervous because as you can tell… I like you, a lot." He said.

"Yeah," she gasped, barely recovered from his kiss.

He chuckled as he pulled her towards him again, capturing her mouth in another kiss. This time Lulu's hand came to his face. She was a phenomenal kisser and never wanted to stop. Suddenly, his phone started ringing.

"You're vibrating," she muttered, as she broke their kiss.

"I'm going to kill whoever this is," Johnny grumbled and she laughed.

He looked down and recognized that it was Claudia's number. She probably was wondering where he was and didn't want to look pathetic and alone in the ballroom.

"What?" he asked into the phone.

"Get back up to the ballroom… Sonny Corinthos just walked in." Claudia snapped at him.

"Fine," he said and he rolled his eyes and snapped his phone shut.

"Back upstairs?" she asked.

"Only if you promise that you'll dance with me again," he said, smiling.

"It's a deal," she said, smiling.


	3. The Revelation

**Author's Note:** I wanted to thank you guys so much for your great reviews! I love writing this story and your reviews make me love writing it even more! So, keep reviewing and I'll keep churning out exciting chapters! It's only going to get better after this!

**Chapter 3 – The Revelation**

Lulu and Johnny walked back into the crowded ballroom, arms linked as if they had been dating for months. They didn't notice anyone else in the room except for each other. Lulu was grinning from ear to ear as she looked at him, like he was the only boy in the world.

"Hey, I've got to go dance with my sister for a few songs… she's a bit of a wallflower… do you mind?" he asked, gently caressing her arm.

"Not at all, I owe Milo a dance or two also. But you owe me one more dance," she said, clinging to his arm.

"I'd never break a promise that I made with a beautiful woman," he said.

She kissed him on the cheek and went off to find Milo on the terrace. He followed her with his eyes until she was gone from his sight. He felt himself smiling. He looked around the room, watching Jax and Courtney dancing alongside Alan and Monica Quartermaine and countless other couples. Everyone was focused on their significant other and talking and laughing. This was what he really wanted. Not to be locked up in the Zacchara family fortress. He was glad that he came to the ball, but he would never admit that to Claudia. Suddenly there was a tap on his shoulder.

"We need to talk, take me to the dance floor." Claudia hissed and she grabbed his hand and dragged him to the dance floor.

"Did you already manage to kill someone?" Johnny joked.

"I found Sonny Corinthos… he's here with his wife and daughter." She said in a hushed voice.

"Really?" he said, completely uninterested. His eyes were on the doors to the terrace, waiting for Lulu to emerge.

This must've been his lucky evening because as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Lulu walked back into the ballroom. Unfortunately, she was holding Milo's hand. They took the dance floor and Lulu and Johnny's eyes met. She smiled at him from across the room. He wanted to go over there, push Milo aside and dance with Lulu until they closed down the hotel.

"Ok, Sonny is the one over there with the green tie and the woman standing next to him is his wife Carly and their daughter is somewhere around here… she's wearing a blue dress." Claudia said, but Johnny was barely paying attention. He was still staring at Lulu.

"Are you listening to me, John?!" Claudia hissed.

"Yes! Sonny has a wife who's in a green dress… I got it… what does this have to do with me?" he asked.

"If you want to have a place in the organization, you need to be aware of who the enemy is." She said.

"Fine… point him out to me again." He said.

She told him to look to his left, which he did. There was Sonny and his wife but they were talking to Lulu. His brow furrowed as he wondered how she knew Sonny Corinthos. Then something disturbing happened. Carly kissed Lulu on the top of her head before breaking out into a fit of laughter and he saw Milo talking with Sonny and then shaking his hand.

_He works for my fathe__r…_

Lulu's words rung in Johnny's ear and his body immediately went numb. Sonny Corinthos was Lulu's adopted father. He was infatuated with the daughter of his enemy.

"John? John! Are you alive in there?" Claudia asked.

His eyes were fixated on the Corinthos clan as they took a table. Claudia looked at her brother and looked to where he was staring at.

"That's her… Lulu Spencer-Corinthos… Sonny's adopted daughter," Claudia said.

_I know_.

That's what he wanted to say… that's what he was screaming inside but he couldn't utter a single word. He was completely in shock. Lulu Spencer-Corinthos. He never knew that three words could make everything go to hell. How could this situation possibly get any worse? Lulu looked up at him and smiled. Her smile sent a sharp pain through his chest and suddenly he felt like he couldn't breathe. Instantly, he pushed Claudia away and went out onto the terrace.

"John!" Claudia called out, but he didn't even turn around to acknowledge that she was calling him. He needed to get away from everyone. He buried his face in his hands as he leaned over the railing of the terrace.

"Johnny?"

He turned around and saw Lulu standing before him. Damn, she was gorgeous. He then cursed himself for not having self restraint. He could never be with her. His sister was plotting to take over her father's territory. He wasn't about to have himself agonize over an impossible situation.

"You still owe me another dance," she said, walking up to him.

"Rain check? I'm worn out." He lied.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said.

"You're a bad liar." She laughed.

"I'm not—" he started but Lulu silenced him with a kiss. Damn it, he thought. He gave in momentarily but regained his resolve and pulled away.

"Don't you think we're going a bit too—" he started but Lulu pulled him back into another kiss and wouldn't let him finish his phrase.

This was torture. He wanted her so badly but would he defy his family just to satisfy some fleeting infatuation with this girl? Was she really worth the insurmountable risk? He couldn't say… he didn't even know her and if he didn't know her, how could he put both of them in the line of fire?

"We shouldn't do this," he said, pulling away again.

"Thirty minutes ago, you were all over me downstairs… what's changed since then?" she asked.

_Everything_.

"I should go," he muttered.

He tried to walk past her but she caught his arm. Her hands were so gentle but she didn't let go.

"Will I see you again?" she asked.

Her voice was soft, delicate, and beautiful. It would melt hearts made out of stone if given the chance. He looked back in her eyes and sighed heavily. He took off his mask and she took off her mask. He smiled sadly and bent over and kissed her slow and sweet. When he pulled away, she put her phone in his hand. He punched his number into the phone and handed it back to her. She tucked her powder blue mask into his coat pocket and he put his black mask in her hand. Without saying a word, they bade each other goodbye and Lulu watched as the elevator doors closed on Johnny.

"Who was that?"

Lulu perked up to see Sam in her purple gown. She smiled warmly at Lulu and Jason came up behind Sam and wrapped her arms around her.

"No one… just a guy I met tonight." Lulu said.

"Oh… a guy? What's his name?" Sam inquired.

"When are you going to mind your own business?" Jason asked his wife jokingly and Lulu laughed.

"I'm sorry… leaving Danny at home while we go out hardly seems fair… I get nervous and I ask a lot of questions to get my mind off not being with our son." Sam said.

"You worry too much," Jason said.

"You really do," Lulu joked.

Lulu looked to the elevator doors, half hoping that they would open with Johnny standing there, holding out his hand to her but they didn't budge.

"Ready to go?"

Lulu was startled but she exhaled a sigh of relief when she saw that it was only Milo's smiling face. She nodded and hugged Sam goodbye.

Lulu arrived back at the mansion and flopped down on the couch. The house was quiet like it always was at night. Michael and Morgan were fast asleep upstairs and Leticia, the boys' babysitter, was cleaning up the kitchen. Lulu sighed and closed her eyes thought about kissing Johnny. It was almost like he was there with her. She could feel his hands on her waist, pulling her in close, and she could taste his lips, sliding over hers.

"Lulu?"

She was shaken out of her daydream by Sonny. He had taken off his jacket and he sat next to her on the couch.

"You should go upstairs and go to sleep, it's late." He said.

"I'll go in a minute." She insisted.

"Before you go… I have to talk to you about something." Sonny said.

"Sure," Lulu said, sitting up straight.

Sonny leaned forward, putting his elbows on his hands, and Lulu started to panic. He never looked like this when he had good news. The last she saw him like this was when he told her that Carly was moving out and he was planning on divorcing her because she had lied about Kristina Davis being his daughter. That was five years ago but he sounded more serious now.

"Um… I'm telling you this because you're old enough to understand my business… but, I have to increase your guards." He said.

"Oh come on, Sonny!" she said, throwing her arms up in the air.

"You know I wouldn't do it if it weren't necessary." He said.

"Why?" she asked.

"The Zacchara family is trying to make a move on my territory and the Zacchara organization is known for targeting family and I'm not taking any chances… you're my kid just as much as the boys and Kristina." He said.

"Well, what should I know?" she asked.

"It was headed up by Anthony Zacchara but he was carted away by his lawyer, Trevor Lansing—" he started.

"As in Ric's father?" she asked.

"Yeah… but now it's headed up by a brother-sister duo… Claudia and Johnny Zacchara," Sonny said.

Lulu looked up sharply into Sonny's eyes. _Johnny __Zacchara_. Was it possible that the Johnny from the ball was Johnny Zacchara? For all she knew, he could've been. She didn't get his last name.

"I—I—um… do you know what they look like or anything? I mean, I'd rather know so I can be aware." Lulu stammered.

"Yeah… Spinelli's been doing some research for Jason and he compiled a folder on the Zacchara's." Sonny said, standing up and walking over to the desk.

He picked up a folder and walked back over to the couch were Lulu sat. He handed her the file but she hesitated before opening it. Her hands shook as she opened the file. In the top left corner of the first page was a picture of a dark-haired woman in black. That must have been Claudia. She flipped the pages and found more pictures of her. She flipped the fifth page or so when her heart stopped.

"Johnny," she whispered.

The first picture that she saw was a mug shot. His face was cocky, arrogant, and defiant. She flipped the page over, almost in disbelief that the picture in front of her was the same guy that she met just hours before. As she turned each page, she felt herself screaming inside. It wasn't fair. She snapped the folder shut abruptly and covered her mouth with her hands.

_This __couldn't__ be…_

"Lulu? Are you ok?" Sonny asked.

"Yeah… I'm—I'm going to go upstairs… I'm meeting Georgie for coffee tomorrow to go over our psychology assignment." She lied.

"Alright," Sonny said, picking up the folder.

She picked up her skirt and rushed upstairs. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes. She was careful to not slam the door behind her since Morgan was right next door to her room. This was horrible. She wanted the one boy that was completely off-limits. She knew that she was cursed in love. First was her failed relationship with resident bad boy Logan Hayes but he cheated on her with resident tramp, Maxie Jones and promptly left town after their breakup. Now things couldn't get any worse because they couldn't even begin. She sat down on her bed, flipped open the phone and scrolled through her contact list. There was the name, simply "Johnny". She clicked the send text message function and began punching letters into the message box.

_Can't stop thinking about you… I need to see you. __Tomorrow?_

_I want to see you too… meet me at the PCU library?_

_How about __10:00?_

_That's fine… I'll see you there… goodnight, Lulu_

She closed her phone but stared at it for a moment, wondering if she had done the right thing by making a meeting with Johnny. Now that Sonny had increased her guards, she wondered if she would even be able to slip away and meet Johnny in secret. She began to undress and put on her pajamas. She could hear Sonny passing her room to go to his bedroom. She turned off the main light in her bedroom and crawled under the covers. She felt her anxiety melt away as she fell asleep. There was no use agonizing over things that were out of her hands.


	4. The Turning Point

**Author's Note:** The ending's a bit of a cliffhanger but I'm working on chapter 5 right now and it should be up soon! Enjoy:)

**Chapter 4 – ****The Turning Point**

Lulu rushed into the Port Charles University Library, quickly flashing her school ID to the security guard who barely acknowledged that she was passing by. The library was deserted at this time because every single person was hung over from the night before. She stepped into the elevator and pushed the fifth floor button.

"Hold on, Miss Lulu…"

She rolled her eyes as two guards entered the elevator along with her. They stuck out like sore thumbs in their crisp black suits. It would be easy to spot that she was Sonny Corinthos' daughter from a mile away. They stood there in an awkward silence until the doors opened again to the fifth floor. The floor was filled with rows and rows of stacks that seemed a mile high. PCU did have one of the most extensive science libraries in the New York area. She tossed her book bag on a nearby table and pulled out her black MacBook. She was stalling. She had to figure out a way to get away from her guards when Johnny came. The two guards sat down across from her and began to play games on their cell phones. Suddenly, she felt her own phone buzz in her jacket pocket.

_I'm here… where are you?_

She looked up at her guards but they were too engrossed in playing Tetris or something. She bit her bottom lip and looked from her phone to her computer screen and then back to her phone.

"Listen, I'll be back…" she said, getting up.

"Where are you going?" one of the guards asked.

"I've got to look for a few chemistry books that are down in the stacks over there for this paper that I need to start." She lied, pointing towards the back of the library.

"Do you want me to get it for you, Miss Lulu?" the other guard asked, eagerly getting up.

"No!—I mean, don't be ridiculous… it's just down this aisle. It shouldn't take me too long." She said.

"Do you need help?" the first guard asked.

"I'm twenty years old… I think I can manage to find a few books." She said, standing up and discreetly sliding her cell phone into her pocket.

The two guards sat back down and went back to playing games on their phones. It was almost too easy. She went down the aisle and as soon as she hit the back of the library, she darted along the back of the corridor and dove into the stairwell. Taking out her cell phone, she furiously began punching letters into a text message as she trotted downstairs.

* * *

Johnny was standing in the lobby of the library. The heater was on full blast and he decided to take off his black overcoat. He didn't know what he was thinking, agreeing to meet Lulu here. Nothing could ever come from this relationship, or whatever it was. It was crazy to think that a girl that he met not even twenty-four hours ago made him act recklessly. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and he flipped his phone open.

_Meet me on the third floor by the stairwell towards the back…_

He found the stairwell and sprinted upstairs, passing the second floor and opening the door to the third. He looked around but saw no sign of Lulu. He walked around the area surrounding the stairwell and found her looking towards the elevator.

"Hiding from someone?" he asked.

She jumped up, startled, and turned around to face him. She looked different in normal clothes but still beautiful than ever. He noticed that her hair was fairly long. At the ball it had been up in some sort of fancy way that hid the length but now it was free and well past her shoulders.

"Not really," she lied.

"Where are your guards?" he asked.

He could tell that she was taken aback by his question.

"W—What do you mean?" she asked.

"Doesn't Sonny assign guards to his kids?" he asked.

"You knew that I was Sonny's daughter?" she asked, folding her arms.

"Figured it out." He said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Before or after you kissed me?" she asked, coming closer to him.

His heart started racing. She was way too close. He could smell her chamomile shampoo on her hair and feel the warmth of her body next to his. His hands were itching to touch her… hold her… like he did the night before.

"Does it matter?" he asked, backing away from her.

"It matters to me," she said softly.

"Lulu… we can't—" he started.

"Because you're a Zacchara?" she asked with a sad smile.

"How'd—How?" he asked.

"Sonny showed me a picture of you after the ball. He wanted me to know about the threat that your family poses against mine." She said.

"And you still wanted to see me after you knew who I was?" he asked.

She didn't say a word. Instead, she reached out and took his hand. Her hands were just as soft and delicate as they were before. They felt like a warm and gentle breeze as they grazed his hands. She looked up at him, inching closer to him.

"I wanted to know if you would be honest with me about who you were," she said softly.

"Did I pass your test?" he asked.

She looked away but Johnny came to her in one swift movement, pinning her against the back wall of the library, locking her mouth in a passionate kiss. She reached for his waist and pulled him towards her. He groaned slightly but she saw a smile curve on his lips and he continued to kiss her.

"I thought you said we couldn't do this," she whispered in between kisses.

"Doesn't mean that I don't want to," he muttered, pulling her back into his kiss.

She felt her stance waver because she was so dizzy from his kiss that her legs no longer seemed to work. Thankfully, he was holding her against the wall so tightly. Her arms moved from around his neck to his chest. He was taken aback when she suddenly pushed him away. Her eyes were fixated on him and her lips were beautifully red from kissing him. Looking at her just made him want her more.

"What are we doing?" she asked as she tried to catch her breath.

"You need an explanation of what we're doing right now?" he chuckled.

"Johnny," she said, breaking free from his grasp.

"I—I didn't know that you were Sonny's daughter until I saw you and Milo talking to him… and then my sister told me." He said.

"Is that why you went all weird at the ball on the terrace?" she asked.

"Yeah… god, this sucks so much, Lulu… Sonny isn't going to let me anywhere near you and I doubt that my sister will be thrilled if I started dating you." He said.

"But you know that there's something between us," she whispered.

"You don't need to convince me, but you do need to stay away. If anyone found out what we were sneaking off to do… it's too dangerous." He said.

"What if I can't?" she blurted out.

He opened his mouth to say something but Lulu's phone began to ring. She took it out and looked at the caller ID and sighed heavily.

"You should probably get back to your guards before they start looking for you," he said.

"Can we talk later?" she asked.

"There's no use in talking about things that we can't change." He said.

She looked at him sadly and nodded. He didn't mean to hurt her but it was for the best. She put her hand on his arm and went back into the stairwell. He stood by the stairs to listen to her footsteps become fainter and fainter as she went back upstairs. This was killing him. He wanted to be with her so badly, for reasons that he couldn't even understand. They hardly knew each other yet they had this pull on each other that was so strong. He walked back towards the elevator slowly as he dialed his driver to pick him up. He thought about Lulu the entire way back to the house. As soon as he stepped foot into the house, he was cornered by Trevor.

"Do you know what your sister is up to?" Trevor asked.

"Get away from me… I'm having a bad day." Johnny barked.

"Oh poor Johnny… he's having a bad day…" Trevor chided.

"You better shut up, Trevor, or so help me god I will kill you." Johnny growled at him, taking off his jacket.

"Don't you ever threaten me, John." Trevor said, coming closer to Johnny.

"You don't scare me." Johnny said, smirking.

"You better tell me what your sister is up to before she does something ridiculously stupid." Trevor said.

"Even if I did know what Claudia was up to, I wouldn't tell you." Johnny said, walking into the study.

Trevor started to follow him but was tapped on the shoulder by one of the house guards. Johnny looked up at the two men whispering. Trevor then nodded and the guard went to the main door to let someone in.

"Zacchara,"

Johnny looked up to see District Attorney Ric Lansing, Trevor's son, standing in front of him with three officers. Johnny's eyes narrowed on Ric. He was so unbelievably smug that it made Johnny sick to his stomach.

"I'm busy," Johnny said, going back to the papers that were on his desk.

"We need to take you down to the station for questioning," Ric said.

"What for?" Johnny said with indifference in his voice.

"Where were you at 10:30 this morning?" Ric asked.

"Around," Johnny snarled.

"Were you with anyone at 10:30?" Ric asked.

"No," he lied.

"Where is this going, Richard?" Trevor asked.

"John Zacchara, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Carly Corinthos." Ric said with a malicious smile and the officers proceeded to put him in handcuffs.


	5. Defiance

**Author's Note:** This chapter is a bit on the long side but I hope you enjoy. I also couldn't resist putting some actual GH dialogue :) Read and review!!

**Chapter 5 –****Defiance**

Lulu was sitting in the ER of General Hospital. Her eyes were bloodshot red from crying while Carly was wheeled into surgery. The hours had passed by in an awful blur. When she had returned back to the fifth floor of the library, her two guards had her things already in their arms. When they told her what had happened to Carly, Lulu could hardly breathe. They went straight to the hospital where Sonny was pacing the halls, swearing up and down the hall, and Jason was trying to calm him down.

"Where are my boys?" Sonny screamed.

"They're at the house… Sam and Leticia are there with them along with five other guards." Jason said.

"Where's Lulu?" Sonny asked.

"I'm here," Lulu said, running into Sonny's arms.

Sonny held her tightly and Lulu began to cry.

"Is she going to be ok? Wh—what happened?" Lulu cried.

Carly had been in the park, taking the shortcut through the park from Kelly's with cheeseburgers and fries for the boys. Shots rang out and Carly was hit once in the chest. Luckily for her, Cooper and Maxie had been walking in the park as well and Coop was able to call for backup and an ambulance quickly. And now Lulu was sitting in the ER… hours later… praying that Carly would make it.

"You should go home… I'll have Milo take you," Sonny said.

"No… I'm staying here until Carly gets out of surgery." Lulu protested.

"Dr. Quartermaine said that this is a complicated procedure." Sonny said.

"And I don't care… I'm staying." She reaffirmed.

Sonny started to protest some more when Jason burst into the ER. He signaled Sonny to come over and talk to him. Lulu knew that this was about who they thought shot at Carly in the park. Lulu crept over to them slowly to listen into their conversation.

"Who the hell did this to my wife, Jason? I want to know so the son of a bitch can pay." Sonny growled.

"I've got Spinelli on it and he managed to get into the PCPD system and they're holding Johnny Zacchara for questioning." Jason said in a hushed voice.

Lulu couldn't believe her ears. She knew that Johnny couldn't have been the one who shot Carly. He was with her when Carly supposedly got shot. Without thinking, she ran out of the doors of the ER and into the street.

"Lulu!" Jason and Sonny called at the same time.

But she didn't stop running. She knew that Sonny and Jason would send her guards after her but she didn't care. The sooner she could get to Johnny and explain that he wasn't the one who shot at Carly, the faster they could get to the bottom of who did.

* * *

D.A. Lansing pushed Johnny into the interrogation room. Ric really was his father's son, just as smug and obnoxious as Trevor. Johnny sat down across from Ric as he started bombarding him with questions but Johnny never said a word.

"Did you shoot at Carly Corinthos in the park?" Ric barked.

"I'm not saying anything without my lawyer," Johnny said, slouching down into his chair.

"You know… this behavior is just making you look guilty…" Ric said, a cruel smirk spreading across his face.

Johnny tilted his head in a defiant manor and Ric sighed heavily and left the room. Johnny looked down at his handcuffed hands and instinctually tried to shake them off even though he knew that they wouldn't come off. He put his forehead on the table and closed his eyes and tried to think of a way to get out of this without telling his real alibi. Suddenly, he heard the door open.

"Johnny,"

He looked up at the sound of the voice and there was Lulu, standing there right in front of him. He couldn't help but to smile but he quickly hid it, remembering how things had just ended between them at the library.

"You shouldn't be here…" he said.

"You shouldn't be here either," she said, sitting down across from him.

"If someone sees you in here with me…" he started but she quickly cut him off.

"Did you shoot Carly?" she asked.

"What?" he asked, taken aback.

"Did you shoot Carly in park?" she asked.

"Of course not! When she got shot, I was with you." He said.

"Did you hire someone to shoot her?" she asked.

"I would never hurt anyone that was related you… I swear." He said.

She looked at him with her beautiful but weary eyes. He guessed that she had been in the ER for hours waiting for Carly to have some sort of surgery and hadn't eaten or anything. She reached out and grabbed his hand. He squeezed hers gently and sighed heavily.

"I believe you… I'll go talk to Police Commissioner Scorpio and tell him that you were with me at the time of the shooting…" he said.

"Absolutely not," he said.

"What? But why not? Johnny, you didn't do this!" she cried.

"But if the police knew that I was with you, word would get back to Sonny and Claudia and who knows what kind of trouble that will cause… you need to go, now." He said.

"How am I supposed to leave you here?" she asked.

"I'll be fine, I promise." He said, flashing a charming smile at her.

Then something completely unexpected happened. Lulu stood up and leaned over the table to kiss him. Her lips were soft and smooth against his. He wanted to take her in his arms but his common sense as well as the fact that his hands were handcuffed prevented him from doing so.

"Whoa… wait… we can't do this," he gasped.

"Meet me after you get out of here," she whispered.

"Are you insane? The cops are going to have their eye on me and no doubt Sonny is going to increase the number of guards on you." He said.

"I can lose them for a bit… please… I just—" she started.

"What?" he asked.

"I just want to be with you tonight," she said softly.

"Lulu," he exhaled.

"I'll only go if you promise to meet me when you get out of here," she said.

He looked at her and knew that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Fine… fine," he said.

"Meet me at the MetroCourt… my aunt Courtney owns the hotel, so I can get a room easily. I'll text you the room number." She said.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" he laughed.

Lulu hit him on the shoulder playfully but then kissed him softly on the lips. He watched her leave the room and then heard her spin a story about she wanted to look into the eyes of the man who wanted to kill her cousin to Ric. No doubted, he questioned her reasons for being in the interrogation room with Johnny. Ric would love the excuse to have some dirt on anyone close to Sonny. Suddenly, the door swung open again but this time it was Claudia.

"Get up," she hissed.

"What?" Johnny asked.

"I said get up… they're releasing you… they have no evidence that you were the one who shot Carly." Claudia said.

"Well, I could've told you that…" Johnny said, rolling his eyes.

The guard came up to Johnny and took off the handcuffs. He moved passed Claudia but she caught him by the arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"I've got somewhere to be," he said.

"Absolutely not… you can't walk around Port Charles without guards! The Corinthos organization is going to be tailing you now that Carly's been shot." She said.

"I'm not five years old, Claudia… when you left, I learned how to look out for myself… I don't need you anymore."

"John…" Claudia started but Johnny wouldn't hear anything that she had to say. She was too late. About thirteen years too late to be exact. Leaving his sister behind, he walked straight out of the PCPD and headed uptown towards the MetroCourt, punching letters on his phone, sending a text message to Lulu. She was already there and waiting for him in a room on the seventh floor. He saw heads turn his direction and people whispering to their neighbors as he walked through the lobby. He guessed that everyone had heard that Carly had gotten shot and he was one of the main suspects. God, he hated small towns. He pushed the close door button repeatedly in the elevator so no one would get in the same elevator. This was only going to be a onetime thing. He would see Lulu, set her straight about what could be and then leave. He went down the hallway to room 722 and knocked on the door quietly. The door opened and there she was. She immediately pulled him into the room and into her arms and kissed him, slamming the door behind them, and everything that Johnny planned on doing went completely out the window.

* * *

Sonny was sleeping at Carly's bedside when a small knock woke him up. He looked up at saw Max at the window. Sonny gave his wife a soft kiss on her forehead and left the room quietly.

"We found Lulu," Max said.

"Where is she?" Sonny asked.

"She's at the MetroCourt." Max said.

"Is she there seeing Courtney?" Sonny asked.

"I don't think so… she checked in." Max said.

"Ok… fine… make sure that there are guards in the area," Sonny said, turning away to go back into Carly's room.

"Mr. Corinthos, there's more…" Max said and Sonny stopped and swerved back towards Max.

"Johnny Zacchara was seen entering the hotel twenty minutes Lulu arrived." Max said and Sonny's eyes went from complacent to livid.

"That son-of-a-bitch is going to pay for what he did to my wife and I'll be damned if he touches my daughter," Sonny growled, pulling out his gun out of his coat pocket.

* * *

"We shouldn't have done this,"

Lulu turned her head towards Johnny, her brow furrowing into a quizzical expression.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

They were lying on top of the bed, side by side, staring at the ceiling.

"We shouldn't be here," he said.

"But we didn't do anything," Lulu chuckled.

It was true. They had just been lying there on the bed, talking for hours. Every thirty minute interval that passed one of them would say that they needed to go but neither of them could bring themselves to leave. She did manage to get him out if his button up shirt, revealing a snugly fit black wifebeater that almost made her mouth water.

"I know… but we shouldn't be here… you're going to get into a lot of trouble for ditching your guards." He said, turning over to face her.

"I don't care," she whispered, placing her hand on his chest and he leaned in and kissed him softly.

"This is crazy… you barely know me," he laughed.

"You barely know me… and here you are," she said, smiling back.

"Only because you begged me," he said.

"No one makes a Zacchara do anything that they don't want to," she whispered.

He smiled and kissed her again, running his hand over her bare waist and pulling her closer. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. His lips broke away from hers and traveled down to her neck. He suddenly stopped and looked up into her eyes.

"This isn't why I came here," he whispered.

"I know… You came to end things but you can't look me in the eye and tell me that you don't want this," she said, cupping his cheek in her hands.

"You're right… I can't," he said before kissing her again.

Suddenly, the door swung open, accompanied by a loud crash, and caused the young lovers to sit up quickly. There was Sonny, pointing the barrel of his gun right at Johnny's heart.

"Sonny!" Lulu shrieked.

"Lulu, put your clothes on and go with Max." Sonny barked.

"This isn't what it looks like!" Lulu insisted.

"Don't argue with me!" Sonny screamed.

"Mr. Corinthos," Johnny started.

"And you," Sonny growled, turning his attention to Johnny, "First you try to take out my wife and now you attack my daughter?"

"Nothing happened!" Lulu cried.

"Max, get her out of here and take her home." Sonny said.

Max tried to take Lulu by the arm but Lulu pushed him away and grabbed onto Sonny's arm.

"This isn't his fault! I made him come and meet me!" Lulu cried.

"Lulu, stop… I can take care of myself." Johnny said.

"Sonny, please… don't shoot him… I'll go home with you and Max if you promise not to hurt him." Lulu begged.

Sonny looked from Johnny to his daughter and back to Johnny again. He dropped the gun and Lulu exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Go," Sonny barked at Lulu.

She looked to Johnny sadly and obliged her father and left with Max. As soon as the door was closed, Sonny pulled the gun back on Johnny.

"I thought you weren't going to kill me," Johnny said, nonchalantly.

"I would never lie to my daughter… but if you do anything to make me want you dead… you're dead… point blank. So, you stay the hell away from my daughter… that is if you want to live…" He said.

With that ominous warning, Sonny turned on his heel and walked out of the hotel room. Johnny bent over to pick up his shirt off of the floor when he heard his cell phone sound. He reached over to the bed and flipped open his phone.

_I'__m so s__orry… I promise I'll work on Sonny… he'll understand_

It was from Lulu. A sad smile broke across his face as he looked at the message. She was trying so hard but he knew that it was a moot point. They could never be together. There was just too much bad blood between their families. As much as his common sense was screaming at him to tell her to stay away he found himself typing the exact opposite into his phone.

_Tell me where and when… _


	6. Tortured

**Chapter 6 – Tortured**

Lulu sat in the living room across from Sonny. His mouth was set in a position of angry disappointment. He said nothing for minutes and Lulu was too afraid to say anything.

"I know that you don't know the inner workings of the business but you're old enough to know when I say that something is dangerous and to stay away from it…" Sonny started.

"I'm sorry for lying…" Lulu said softly.

"Listen to me! This is no time for you to be rebellious! You could've been killed! Johnny could've—" he yelled.

"Johnny wouldn't do anything to hurt me!" she cried.

"You don't know that and you don't know him." He said.

"He didn't do anything to me!" Lulu said.

"He's a Zacchara! He'll reel you in and hurt you to get to me!" Sonny said.

"Johnny's interest in me has nothing to do with you! He liked me before he knew that I was your daughter!" she screamed.

"How do you know that? Because he told you?" he asked with a cruel laughed.

"He didn't know that I was your daughter until after we started talking at the masquerade ball." She said calmly.

"And you believed him? Lulu, you have to be smarter than that." He said.

"Yes, I believe him! He has no reason to lie to me!" she screamed.

"He has **every reason** to lie to you!" Sonny screamed, overturning the coffee table.

Lulu knew that Sonny had a temper but he had never unleashed his temper on her. Sonny kept on screaming about how the Zaccharas would kill her to get to her and Johnny wouldn't hesitate to let it happen. She knew that wasn't true but didn't argue with him. She just sat there and took it all and then went to her room when he ordered her to go upstairs. Ignoring the hour, she slammed the door behind her and started screaming. Why couldn't Sonny believe her? Johnny wouldn't do anything to hurt her. She quickly realized that Michael and Morgan were probably asleep and quieted down. She went to her balcony for some fresh air. The wind gently brushed through her golden hair and seemed to lift all of the anxiety out of her. She suddenly heard something rustling in the bushes across the way in the backyard. She looked down and saw a red sniper dot on her chest. She screamed and turned around but it was too late. Shots rang out and Lulu felt a sharp pain in her side and fell to the ground. Max, Milo and Sonny burst into the bedroom and saw Lulu, her bloody hands clutching her side.

* * *

Johnny often took out his car and went for long drives when he was angry or stressed. He pressed his foot gently on the accelerator and sped along the main highway as he tried to forget what Lulu's lips tasted like and what her hands felt like against his body. As fast as he tried to run away from his feelings, he realized that he couldn't get away from someone who was in his heart. He saw a clearing up ahead and slowed down to pull into the grassy patch. He parked and put his head in his hands.

_I just want to be with you tonight…_

Lulu's words sent a chill down his spine. She could be reading the telephone book and still have the hairs on the back on his neck stand up. He hated himself for feeling this way. He didn't want to want Lulu. He didn't want to feel that way about anyone. He had always been afraid to get close to someone. He was so close to Claudia when he was little and then she was taken away from him. He was inseparable from his mother and his father took her from him as well. He decided that he would never let anyone get close to him because they would be taken from him as well and Johnny knew that he was strong…

But not that strong…

He turned on the radio, in order to drown out his thoughts. He flipped through the various stations but couldn't find anything that he really wanted to listen to. He then changed the station to the local news and sat back and closed his eyes.

"Breaking news… the PCPD has confirmed that the shots that rang out at Port Charles resident, Sonny Corinthos' house did hit his daughter, Lulu Spencer-Corinthos and she is being taken to General Hospital… the police have not identified the shooter but they do believe that was mob related."

"What the f—" Johnny said, sitting up quickly.

He quickly started up his engine, made a sharp u-turn and headed back towards Port Charles. He paid no attention to his speed and would outrun the cops if they dared to tail him.

* * *

Claudia sat in her father's office, with her red Gucci pumps resting on top of the mahogany desk. The phone rang and she picked it up after one ring so that no one would answer it besides her.

"Took you long enough to call me back," Claudia said.

"I don't take orders from you… we have an equal arrangement…"

"Fine… did you take out Corinthos' daughter?" Claudia asked.

"Flesh wound in the side… she saw my man and turned at the last minute,"

"You're losing your touch," Claudia taunted

"You shouldn't be the one to criticize… you didn't take out the wife."

"Fine… what are we going to do about this?" Claudia growled.

"Just keep your end of the deal… Carly Corinthos, six feet under… and I'll take care of Lulu."

And with that the line disconnected.

* * *

Lulu woke up to the steady beeping of her heart monitor. She was dressed in one of those awful hospital gowns and she knew she probably looked like hell. She saw Jason sitting in the corner, fast asleep. He and Sonny must have been doing a trade off with both her and Carly in the hospital.

"Jason…" she whispered.

Jason woke with a start and looked straight at Lulu. He smiled wearily and stood up to come to her bedside.

"Hey… how're you feeling?" he asked quietly.

"I've been better… understandably." Lulu chuckled.

"Let me go get Sonny… he'll want to see you." Jason said, starting to walk towards the door.

"No… let him have his time with Carly… he'll be back… I know it." She said.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" Jason asked.

Jason was so comforting. The cold exterior that he usually had couldn't be farther from his actual personality, which was warm and caring. Lulu always thought that Carly was the smartest person in the world to make Jason her confidant. He was always there for her, Sonny, the boys and herself, when she joined the family. Jason instantly made Lulu feel like a part of the family. He and Sam always came over to the house for dinner and to babysit Michael and Morgan and seeing Jason with his own son, Danny, was nothing short of magical.

"Sure," Lulu said, smiling.

He pulled up the chair that he had been sitting in to her beside and sat down.

"So, how's Carly doing?" Lulu asked.

"She's going to be fine… the surgery went well and she should be getting out of here in a few days." He said.

"That's great… Sonny must be relieved." She said.

"He was… until he found out that his daughter had been shot." He said, sitting up.

Lulu opened her mouth to say something when Jason's phone began to ring.

"It's Max… I've got to take this and then head back home… Danny's got a cold and Sam's having a nervous breakdown over it… are you alright? Do you want me to get Milo over here to keep you company?" he asked.

"No… I'll be fine… give Danny a kiss for me and tell him to feel better!" Lulu said, as Jason left the room.

Lulu sat back in her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She hated being alone and even though Jason had offered to have Milo come to her room and how she knew that he would've jumped at the opportunity, there was only one person that she wanted to see. She closed her eyes and tried to picture his amazingly brilliant smile, perfect soft dark brown hair, and deep brown eyes.

"Lulu,"

Her eyes shot open and she wondered if she was dreaming because Johnny was standing right there. She smiled but he just stood there, staring at her. She sat up in her bed and attempted to straighten out her hair but Johnny was still frozen.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Without saying anything, he started towards her until he reached her bedside. She noticed that his eyes were red and tired and she wondered if he had been crying. She couldn't believe that Johnny Zacchara would ever cry but as he raised hand to touch her cheek, his hand trembled. She grasped his hand in hers and kissed the inside of his palm. For reasons that they couldn't explain, they both began to cry. Johnny fell to his knees and put his head in her lap. Lulu gently ran her fingers through his hair and he wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed her gently.

"How did this happen?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"I don't know…" she whispered.

He looked up at her and curled her blond hair around her ear and then moved down to wipe the tears that were falling from her eyes.

"I—I don't know what I would've done if you'd—" he started. The pain and torment that was in his voice broke her heart.

"Hey… I'm not dead, ok? I'm fine… I'm right here." She said, cupping his face in her hands.

"I hate this…" he muttered.

"Yeah, I know… getting shot is not my idea of a good time," Lulu laughed.

"That's not what I meant… I hate this—this thing that we have! I hate the way it makes me feel… I hate the way that I can't get you out of my mind when I'm not with you… I hate going to pieces at the thought of you being hurt." He cried.

"What are you saying?" she asked.

"I've lost too many people in my life… I just—I can't lose you too," he said.

His voice was shaky and barely higher than a whisper. He sounded so scared. She knew that he had a rough time growing up, especially with his father being insane and killing his mother right before his eyes. She took him in her arms and kissed the top of his head. They just sat there in silence, holding each other. She felt him calm down and he sat up to look at her again. She leaned in and kissed him softly. She felt his hand climb up to her face as they kissed. Suddenly, he softly pushed her away.

"No… we can't do this," he gasped.

"I thought that we were going to make this work, Johnny." She said.

"I know—and I meant it at the time and I still do but I'm so close to the edge that I—" he started.

"You are nothing like your father," Lulu said softly.

"You don't know that," he said.

"I know you… you're strong… smart… incredibly handsome," she said and Johnny allowed himself to smile for a moment.

"No I'm not," he said.

"Hey… look at me… yes, you are… why do you think I'm fighting like hell to have you in my life?" she asked.

"And there's nothing that I want more," he said softly.

"Then stop pushing me away!" she cried.

"I have to… it's too dangerous." He said.

She withdrew her hands from his and folded them across her chest. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes and she turned her head away from him. He reached up to her face and turned her back to him.

"Hey… no tears, ok?" he said.

"This isn't fair…" she said, more tears falling down her face.

This was killing him. He felt his breath freeze in his throat, choking him. He shut his eyes to block out the image of her crying. He couldn't stand this.

"I should go," he said.

"No," she whispered as she grasped his hand.

"Lulu," he sighed.

"Don't do this," she begged.

He began to back away but Lulu kept a firm grip on his hand. Her hold was strong but her hands were so soft. He broke her grip on his hand and walked out of the room. He could hear her crying and calling out his name but he didn't dare to look back.

He couldn't look back.

Because if he looked back, he might be tempted to rush back to her.

Lulu felt like she was suffocating. She wanted to scream for Johnny but she couldn't find the words. The machines that she was hooked up to started making all sorts of noises that probably meant something bad was happening. Dr. Robin Scorpio-Drake rushed into the room, asking what happened while checking her monitors but Lulu couldn't say anything. Sonny came in to the room, with flowers, completely unaware of what was happening and immediately went into a panic.

"What—what's happening to her?" Sonny asked.

"Sonny, I need you to move out of the way… I'm going to administer a sedative… this fit was probably brought on by stress." Robin said, putting a syringe into Lulu's IV drip.

Lulu felt her eyes begin to droop and Robin and Sonny's faces became blurry.

_You do need to stay away__…_

"No… Johnny," Lulu whispered.

_There's no use in talking about things that we can't change__…_

"Don't do this… please," Lulu begged.

Sonny looked to Robin with a confused expression.

"She's probably just dreaming…" Robin started.

"Or that bastard was here and tried to attack my daughter again…" Sonny growled.

"Sonny, don't…" Robin said but Sonny set the flowers down and marched right out of the room.

_I should go…_

"No… Johnny… please… please don't leave me," Lulu whispered before drifting off to sleep.

Robin threw her clipboard to the ground and rushed to the hallway to find Sonny but he was already gone.


	7. The Young Prince and The Young Princess

**Author's Note:** I was listening to my classical music collection on iTunes and got the idea to name this chapter after the song and have Johnny play it on the piano. If you're into classical music or want something to listen to while reading this, I highly recommend it.

**Chapter 7 – ****The Young Prince and the Young Princess**

Johnny slammed the door to the Zacchara mansion and stormed right into Anthony's study, throwing his jacket onto one of the armchairs in the corner.

"What the hell happened to you, John?"

He looked up and saw Claudia sitting at the desk, her red shoes on the desk and arms folded. Johnny ignored her comment and went straight to the piano. He needed something to play. All of this frustration needed to be released. As his fingertips touched the keys, he closed his eyes and started playing. The song was soft and gentle, as if telling a love story through melodies.

"Rimsky-Korsakov…" Claudia said.

He stopped playing and turned around to his sister. She was now leaning against the grand piano, looking at her brother with a proud grin on her face.

"How'd you know?" he asked.

"Your mom took you and me to see Scheherazade in the city when you were seven, remember? You hated going to the ballet because you had to wear a suit." She said, smiling.

"Yeah…" he said.

"And you used to play it all the time for me and I'd pretend to be the prima ballerina and dance around the piano." She continued and this time Johnny let out a small laugh.

"You were a horrible dancer," he chuckled.

"Of course, you were always the creative one…" she said.

He went back to playing the song. It reminded him of Lulu: sweet, sensual, loving, passionate, and seductive. He smiled at the thought of playing it for her but his smile quickly faded at how things had played out.

"John, what's wrong?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You stopped playing all of a sudden." Claudia stated, flatly.

"I'm fine…" he lied.

"Fine… if you don't want to tell me, then I can't help you." She said, walking back to the desk.

"Have you ever been in love, Claudia?" he asked, suddenly.

Claudia looked up sharply at her little brother. He slowly turned his head towards her and she smiled sadly.

"Once upon a time, maybe…" she said, quietly.

"How'd—how are you supposed to tell if you are?" he asked.

Claudia tilted her head to the side and chuckled. His face folded into a confused expression. Claudia never laughed… not freely. Her laughs now were laced with malice and sarcasm. This was the first time he had heard her laugh without any horrible intention or retort planned.

"Oh, John… if you have to ask that question, you're already in love." She said.

With that, she picked up that day's newspaper and unfolded it and disappeared behind it. Johnny turned back to the piano and closed it and left the study. Claudia was being ridiculous. There was no way that he was in love with Lulu. He had just met her. He closed the door to the study and heard Trevor on the phone down the hall but ignored his super corrupt lawyer and headed upstairs to his bedroom.

He couldn't be in love with her. He just couldn't.

No one fell for someone that quickly in real life. It was impossible. That kind of stuff only happened in Shakespeare. He flopped down onto his bed and shut his eyes but all he could see was Lulu's smile. He reached over to his nightstand to get his iPod but grabbed Lulu's powder blue mask from the masquerade ball by mistake. He felt his entire body relax and a smile come to his face as he ran his fingers over the blue lace trim.

Damn it… he hated when Claudia was right.

Suddenly, his phone began to ring. He flipped open the phone and pressed it up against his ear.

"Zacharra," he said.

"Since you don't listen… I guess I'll have to send my message clearer."

Johnny knew instantly that it was Sonny on the other line but didn't bother with arguing with him. The line was silent for a moment and Johnny thought that Sonny had hung up but all of a sudden, a large exploding noise sounded outside of Johnny's window. He immediately went to the window and saw his car that was parked out in front of the house in flames.

"Stay the hell away from my daughter or the next time, I'll make sure that you're actually in the car when it blows up." Sonny growled before hanging up.

* * *

Lulu inhaled the crisp winter air in the park. She and Carly laughed as Michael and Morgan jumped into a huge pile of snow. They had both been out of the hospital for about two weeks and were taking the opportunity to enjoy the season by taking the route back home through the park. Of course, three guards were three steps behind them both but they hardly noticed the three guys in dark suits. They were just happy to be out.

"So, you and Sonny haven't been talking for awhile… do you want to tell me why?" Carly asked.

"It's nothing…" Lulu lied.

"Jason said that Sonny found you with Johnny Zacchara at the MetroCourt and that Johnny tried to attack you." Carly said.

"Of course that's what Sonny would say… but Johnny didn't do anything to hurt me," Lulu said, stirring her cup of hot chocolate.

"Ok… will you tell me what's going on if I promise that it stays between us?" Carly asked.

Lulu looked to Carly and laughed. She knew that Carly was lying. If she told Carly that she was falling for Johnny Zacchara, she would tell Sonny in a heartbeat, thinking that she was protecting her.

"There's nothing to tell," Lulu said before taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Alright," Carly said.

Lulu looked down at her mug and ran one of her gloved fingers over the plastic cup and sighed heavily. Johnny hadn't returned any of her calls or text messages. She had to have left at least a dozen messages on his cell phone but they all went unanswered. She couldn't understand why he was being so difficult.

It wasn't like his family was trying to kill her or anything…

"Alright… I think that we should all head back to the house because Sonny's cooking dinner again tonight and you know how he gets if we get home late when he cooks." Carly said.

Michael and Morgan groaned but obliged their mother and brushed off the snow that had accumulated on their jackets. Lulu stood up and began walking with them along the pathway towards the car when she saw Johnny out of the corner of her eye. She turned towards him and he turned away and began walking in the opposite direction.

"Carly… I'll be right back… I think I left my scarf on the bench where we were sitting." Lulu said.

"Alright…" Carly said, ushering her boys towards the car.

* * *

Lulu trotted along the icy pathway towards Johnny. The wind was blowing and the snow started to fall heavily, like one of those snow globes that she used to have when she was a kid. Johnny saw her coming and stopped walking. He sighed and shoved his hands into his pocket. She looked so beautiful with the wind in her hair and the snow falling around her. She suddenly lost her footing and slipped but Johnny caught her.

"Easy there… you're going to pop one of your stitches…" he said, holding her in his arms.

"Hi," she exhaled, smiling.

He helped her stand up and let go of her when she was finally upright.

"I see you're out of the hospital." Johnny said.

"Yeah… Carly and I were released a few weeks ago." She said, folding her arms.

"That's good," he said.

Lulu felt herself tearing up as he spoke to her in such an indifferent tone. He couldn't even bring himself to look her in the eyes as he spoke.

"Why haven't you returned any of my calls or texts?" she asked.

"Don't do this, Lulu…" he exhaled.

"Why not?" she cried.

"Because it always ends the same…" he said.

"Because you won't let it be any other way," she said, holding onto his arm.

He turned around to face her. He looked her straight in the eye and wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. Her bottom lip trembled and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He lifted his head and kissed her gently. He then pulled away and put his forehead on hers.

"You have no idea how hard this is for me… every single message that you left, I listened to at least eighteen times… just to hear the sound of your voice…" he said.

"And you couldn't pick up the phone and call me back?" she asked, placing her hands on his chest.

He brought her in and she rested her head on his chest. He kissed the top of her head and ran his hands up and down her back.

"I can't stand this… being away from you… it's harder than I could've ever imagined." He said.

"You don't have to stay away from me…" she whispered.

He smiled sadly, knowing how untrue her words were. He rested his forehead and thought about taking her on a real date or going for a drive with her in the summer with the top down in his car. She would be wearing a pair of oversized sunglasses and the wind would toss her hair everywhere. Perhaps they would go to the beach and watch the sunset with his arm around her. They could be young and free, not the prince and princess of the underworld, leaving all of their familial baggage far behind them. He could see her, as clear as day, leaning out of the passenger side window, beaming at him. He smiled back at her and started walking towards the car. She was laughing at how slow he was walking but he wanted to savor this moment. But the moment was gone in an instant when the car exploded before his very eyes.

"No…" Johnny whispered.

"Hey… are you ok?"

Lulu was holding his cheeks in her slim gloved fingers. He blinked furiously, trying to focus on her face but all he could see was the flames and the smoke from the car explosion.

"Johnny… Johnny, stay with me." She said as her thumb smoothed over his face.

He was back in winter, suddenly. Lulu was in his arms, and her heart was beating against his chest. She was alive and the burning car was nowhere in sight. His eyes focused on Lulu and he exhaled deeply.

"You're ok?" he gasped, grasping her arms.

"Yeah… w—why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

He thought back to his vision of the exploding car and shuddered. He couldn't let that happen to her. He couldn't let her be hurt just for doing something simple like being with him. Especially if they continued meeting in secret, how would Sonny know that his daughter was in the car when it exploded when it was clearly for him? It was different for Lulu. She wasn't in the organization and he was. He would always be a target and he couldn't say that he was in love with Lulu and not want her to be safe. Even if it meant that they could never be together.

"I—I can't do this…" he said, pushing her away.

"Johnny, what's going on? You look like you've just seen a ghost." She said.

"Something's happened… something that's just confirmed that it's too dangerous for us to be together." He said softly.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It's not important… as much as it's killing me to stay away from you… it's the only way that I can make sure that you're safe." He said.

"From what?" she asked.

"From me," he said.

"You would never hurt me!" she cried.

"Not me, but my life… now you need to go… go before Milo comes back and finds you with me." He said.

She looked up at him sadly and turned around to walk away. He watched her walk along the path and Milo met her halfway down the pathway and escorted her to the car. Before she disappeared into the car, she looked back in Johnny's direction and her initial thought amazed her.

_I love you, Johnny Zacchara…_

Those were the words that she wanted to say, and she had no idea why. They had never dated or anything… just shared stolen moments… sitting beneath the nighttime sky at the ball, kissing whole being pressed up against bookshelves in the library, talking for hours in a room at the MetroCourt, taking a moment to cry together … could that be love? A small smile curved across Lulu's face. She did love how he seemed like he could take on the world but showed her his vulnerability… she loved how he wasn't afraid to laugh out loud, the way that he made her gasp for air after he kissed her, how open and free he was with her, the way his hair felt on her fingertips, the way his hands seemed to fit perfectly at her waist…

And suddenly it hit her.

This princess had finally found her prince.

... and she couldn't let him go.


	8. Come Away With Me

**Author's Note:** This chapter is really long but it didn't really feel right to cut it up into two parts so here it all is!!

**Chapter 8 – ****Come Away With Me**

Johnny stepped out of his father's Maserati and thought to himself that he needed to head out to the nearest Porsche dealership to get a new car. He really didn't need to buy a new car since the Zaccharas had an extensive garage, filled with restored and brand new cars, including Claudia's brand new red Audi A6 that she had delivered to the house hours before his old Mustang was blown to bits. As far as he was concerned, anything that his father had touched was cursed and he had purchased the Maserati when his health began to fail him and he never drove it, making it safe for Johnny to take out for the occasional joyride. He pulled into the garage and quickly entered the house. He really needed to stop going into Port Charles. He never expected to run into Lulu in the park and she was so… Lulu… beautiful, stubborn, and reckless… and it didn't help that she drove him crazy when she was anywhere near him. He unwrapped his charcoal gray scarf as he walked past the study when he overheard someone on the phone.

"Are you going to take out the Corinthos girl?"

That voice belonged to Trevor.

"He's working on it… we have an agreement… he takes care of the daughter while I take care of the wife."

And that voice was Claudia's.

Johnny tiptoed towards the door and pressed his ear against it to hear the rest of the conversation.

"You just got into town, Claudia… I'm not sure you're really prepped for a takeover. The Corinthos-Morgan organization is very strong and if they get a whiff of what you're up to…" Trevor started.

"Believe me… Sonny won't know what hit him… with the daughter and the wife gone, he'll be completely powerless and then we can take over." Claudia said.

Johnny ran back to the garage. He couldn't listen to Claudia plotting the demise of Sonny by getting to Lulu and Carly anymore. He knew that it was just business and she didn't know that he was in love with Lulu but it was just so jarring to hear Claudia talk about Lulu and Carly's lives like they were expendable. He pulled out his cell phone and punched in Lulu's number.

"This is unexpected," Lulu said.

"I need to see you… it's important." Johnny said.

"But I thought that you said that we couldn't see each other," she said, matter-of-factly.

"I know what I said but if you value your life, you'll meet me…" he said.

"Are you trying to scare me?" she asked.

"I didn't mean to scare you… it's just really important that I talk to you… in person." He said.

"Ok… ok… I'm meeting Georgie for coffee at Kelly's later tonight… can you meet me there at ten?" she asked.

"I'll be there… and Lulu?" he started.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Please be careful…" he said, his voice hardly above a whisper.

* * *

Lulu had barely touched her chai latte. She was biting her bottom lip and stirring the light brown drink with her wooden stirrer slowly. All she could think about Johnny and his call. He sounded so worried, and the way that he implied that her life was in danger made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She knew that he was trying to protect her and that's why he kept pushing her away but she didn't know how much more she could take.

"Are you alright?" Georgie asked.

"Huh?" Lulu said, looking up at her friend.

"You're a million miles away… what's up?" Georgie asked.

"You're so lucky…" Lulu muttered.

"Ok… where did that come from?" Georgie laughed, taking a sip of her coffee.

"You and Spinelli… he loves you so much and he's not afraid to be with you… even though he works for Sonny and Jason." Lulu said.

"Yes… Spinelli is wonderful… but he does worry about me but he warned me about the life that he has because of Sonny and Jason and asked me if being with him is worth it… at first I wasn't keen on dating someone in that world but I realized that I love Spinelli despite everything and what he did for a living didn't matter to me as long as he loved me." Georgie said.

"At least he was willing to take that chance." Lulu said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Lu… what is this really about?" Georgie said.

Lulu looked around the restaurant. Everyone was engrossed in their own conversations. She felt like if she didn't say something about how Johnny was frustrating, she might just scream.

"Johnny Zacchara," Lulu exhaled.

"Spinelli told me that he might've been the one who tried to kill Carly." Georgie said.

"He wasn't the one who shot Carly… he was with me at PCU." Lulu said.

"Wait—how—I don't understand… I'm pretty sure that Sonny and Jason don't want you anywhere near Johnny Zacchara with all of this trouble that's been brewing between your families lately." Georgie said.

"I know! That's what he keeps saying but—" Lulu started.

"Lulu… don't tell me… are you—are you falling for him?" Georgie whispered.

Lulu looked away from her friend and that was all that Georgie needed to come to the conclusion that her closest friend was in love with the only son of the rival family.

"Oh my god…" Georgie muttered.

"I know! I know… but I can't help it…" Lulu cried.

"You know you can't see him… Sonny would kill you if he found out." Georgie hissed.

"He's already caught us… and was furious… but he called me today and said that he needed to see me about something important… it was a matter of life or death." Lulu said.

"Well, with men like Sonny, Jason, and Johnny… it always is… I hope you told him to go to hell." Georgie muttered.

"He should be here any minute…" Lulu said, looking at her watch.

"Lulu! And you expect me to cover for you, don't you?" Georgie hissed.

"He sounded so scared over the phone… and when I got shot… I've never seen someone so broken." Lulu said, softly.

Georgie opened her mouth to say something but saw Johnny in the window looking at them having coffee. She turned back to Lulu and discretely pointed at the window. Lulu turned around and saw Johnny in the window and he signaled for her to come outside.

"Please… don't say anything to anyone…" Lulu said, putting her hand on Georgie's.

"You know I won't…" Georgie said, squeezing her friend's hand gently.

Lulu stood up and went out of the backdoor of Kelly's. Johnny was leaning against the wall, looking at her. Without even thinking, she ran into his arms. He received her warmly, gently caressing her back and squeezing her tightly against his body. His arms felt like heaven.

"I really shouldn't be here but I needed to say this to you," he said.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You need to get out of Port Charles." He said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"My sister is planning a takeover of Sonny's territory and I overheard her talking about killing you and Carly in order to get to Sonny." He said.

"She wants to kill me?" she asked.

"My sister is ruthless… maybe even more so than my father because she's not certifiable. She wants this territory and she'll do anything to get it." He said.

"Talk to her! You told me at the ball that your sister was trying to make amends for her departure all of those years ago… tell her about us… maybe she'll understand!" Lulu cried.

"You don't get it! I need my sister to believe that I am on her side… this is the only way I can be one step ahead of her and guarantee that you're safe." He said.

"There's a war brewing between our families… how could I ever forgive myself if I leave you and something happens to you?" she asked.

Her voice broke his heart. He took her in his arms and held her close to him. Her concern for him only made him love her more but as much as he loved her, he couldn't allow himself to put her in the line of fire for such a selfish reason.

"You should get back inside… Georgie might be getting worried… but please, get out of Port Charles… I'm begging you…" he said.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his forehead down to touch hers. His heart was beating so fast against her chest. He was so scared and she was too but she couldn't leave, not when everything she loved was in Port Charles, in her arms.

* * *

Damien Spinelli burst through the double doors of Kelly's with his laptop tucked underneath his arm. Georgie laughed at his frantic expression and gestured to him to come to the table. Jason Morgan followed him into Kelly's soon after.

"Many many many apologies, fair and wise Georgie but the Jackal and Stone Cold are dealing with a most distressing situation." Spinelli stammered.

"Georgie… have you seen Lulu? She slipped out of the house and away from her guards and with this Zacchara situation escalating, she shouldn't be acting out." Jason said.

"Um… she… she's…" Georgie started.

Spinelli knew that Georgie was not a good liar and Jason sensed it too.

"Is she here, Georgie?" Jason asked.

"She said that she would be right back… she just had to step outside for a moment." Georgie said.

Jason pushed his chair back and went out the back door. Georgie shot Spinelli a panicked look and they both ran after Jason.

* * *

"Please… I am begging you, Lulu… don't fight me on this… you have to get out of town." Johnny whispered.

"Come with me," she exhaled.

He smiled sadly and kissed her forehead. He would have loved to run away with her… just to take her by the hand and never look back, starting over, somewhere completely new, somewhere where their demons couldn't follow. A brownstone in Harlem, a rundown apartment in Manhattan, a penthouse overlooking Central Park, a shack on the beach in Florida, a mansion up in the hills, a small house in the country… it didn't really matter, as long as she was with him.

"I wish I could…" he muttered.

"You can… we can go someplace far… where no one knows who we are or who our families are… it could just be you and me." she said, holding his cheeks in her hands.

"No… I can't… we can't." he said, gently removing her hands from his face.

"Fine… I'll go… I'll see what I can do about leaving Port Charles," she said, wiping her eyes.

"Thank you," he said, flicking a tear off her face with his thumb.

"Just one thing before I go," she said.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Kiss me," she breathed.

His face softened and he curled a piece of her golden blond hair around her ear and brought her into his lips. What was one final simple indulgence? He promised himself that this would be the last kiss… for now… and truthfully, he wanted to kiss her. He felt her knees buckle but wrapped his arms around her waist and held her waist close to him so that she just fell deeper into his kiss.

"Zacchara! Get away from her!"

They pulled away and saw Jason Morgan pointing his gun straight at Johnny's face. Spinelli was holding Georgie back as she screamed at Jason to stop pointing the gun in Lulu's direction. Lulu turned around and positioned herself as a shield between Jason and Johnny.

"Lulu, move!" Jason barked.

"Jason, we were just talking… he didn't do anything to hurt me…" Lulu said.

"Lulu… move, please." Johnny whispered.

"Jason, put the gun down!" Lulu shrieked.

"Lulu… you're coming with me back to the house." Jason said, never putting down the gun.

"Fine… fine… just put the gun down… and I'll go with you back to Sonny's… just don't hurt Johnny." She cried.

Jason put the gun down and Lulu squeezed Johnny's hand affectionately and exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Can you give them a moment?" Georgie asked.

Jason rolled his eyes and motioned Spinelli towards the car. Georgie put her hand on Lulu's shoulder before following them towards the street.

"Oh my god… I'm so sorry…" Lulu said, holding Johnny in her arms.

"It's ok… but you should go… before Jason comes back." he said, avoiding her eyes.

She came up to him and kissed the corner of his mouth softly. Her lips lingered for a moment near his, hoping to get a reaction out of him but he just shut his eyes in restraint. She sighed heavily and walked past him. Suddenly, she was pulled back into his arms.

"One more," he muttered.

With that, he crushed his lips against hers, bringing his hands up to her face. He was weak, he knew it. He didn't really want her to go but he just couldn't have the last time he kissed her to be a quick dismissive kiss. When they pulled away, they were both panting. Her face was flushed and her lips were beautifully red from kissing him. It was then that he wanted to tell her how he felt about her. He wanted to say those three little words.

"Goodbye, Johnny…" she exhaled.

"Goodbye, Lulu…" he said.

She turned around and began walking to her car. She couldn't stand this. She loved him and he was sending her away. The threat that the Zaccharas posed towards the Corinthos family was probably as serious as Jason and Johnny had said but she never thought that she would be a target. Claudia Zacchara wanted her dead just for being adopted into Sonny's family. Not only could she not see the man that she loved but she also had to worry about getting killed over land. She wished that Johnny had taken her up on her offer to run away together but he was just as stubborn as she was. Too bad they weren't on the same side.

* * *

Lulu walked into the Corinthos' house and Sonny was sitting on the couch. Lulu looked to Jason and Jason gave her a sheepish "I had to tell him" face. Lulu rolled her eyes and walked into the living room.

"Jason… leave us… I need to speak to Lulu, privately." Sonny said and Jason nodded and disappeared onto the terrace to make a phone call.

"Lulu… I'm going to spare you the lecture since you've heard it before and I'll just skip right to this. I'm sending you out of the country." Sonny started.

"What?" Lulu asked.

"I've already enrolled you in a university in Paris… you'll be staying with Brenda." He said.

"Just like that? You're going to ship me halfway across the world?" she asked.

"You didn't listen to me when I told you to stay away from Johnny Zacchara…" he started.

"Sonny… he never did anything to me…" she attempted to explain.

However, Sonny wouldn't hear any of it. Half of her things were already packed away when she got home and she was on a red-eye flight to Paris in four hours. Carly came downstairs and immediately began protesting Lulu's move to Paris.

"You can't send her away to Paris to live with Brenda!" Carly cried.

"It's for Lulu's protection!" Sonny yelled back.

"It disturbs me how easy it is for you to just send me away…" Lulu muttered.

"It's not because I don't love you… it's because I love you… I need you to be safe… and you can't be safe here in Port Charles." He said, taking his daughter in his arms. She let Sonny hug her because she wasn't going away for him… she was going away for Johnny.

* * *

Johnny walked back into the house and strolled right into the study. What he saw was unnerving. Claudia was laughing and toasting with Trevor.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked.

"We're having a little congratulatory drink." she chimed. She poured Johnny a glass of scotch and handed it to him.

"For what?" he asked.

"Sonny fell right into our trap." Claudia said, clinking glasses with Trevor.

Johnny raised his eyebrow at this civility between his sister and the family attorney and set down the glass of scotch back on the desk.

"I'm just as surprised as you are, John… I didn't think that your sister had the spine to take Corinthos head on but I'm impressed." Trevor mused.

"What exactly did she do to get your approval?" Johnny asked.

"The Corinthos girl… she's being moved tonight…" Claudia said.

_Shit…_

"She's being moved? Where?" Johnny asked, folding his arms, feigning ignorance.

"Paris… apparently, Sonny's got some ex-girlfriend over there and she's staying with her." Claudia said, setting down her glass and putting her hands on her hips.

Suddenly, his phone began to vibrate. He took it out of his pocket and flipped it open. It was a text message from Lulu.

_Leaving for Paris tonight… call you as soon as I can…_

"Holy sh—" he started.

"Language, John!" Claudia hissed.

"What are you? My mother?" Johnny spat and Claudia rolled her eyes.

Johnny rushed out of the room and headed upstairs, dialing Lulu's cell phone number.

_Hi, you've reached Lulu Spencer-Corinthos… I can't come to the phone right now but leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!_

"Damn it…" he muttered at the sound of her voicemail.

He snapped his phone shut and went into his closet and pulled out a large black duffel bag. He opened all of his drawers and emptied the all of the contents into his bag. Lulu couldn't step onto Parisian soil. If she did, she would be dead and he could never live with himself if he didn't do something to stop it. As soon as his bag was filled to capacity, he zipped it up, swung it over his shoulder and quietly tiptoed downstairs. Trevor and Claudia were still in the study, talking about Lulu's impending death as a part of their strategy to claiming the Corinthos territory. The thought of them talking about Lulu's life as if it was expendable made him sick to his stomach.

"Can I help you Mr. Zacchara?"

Johnny looked up sharply and saw one of the guards standing in front of him. His name was Rafe or something like that. He never took the time to get to know the guards that kept him and his father confined to this godforsaken house.

"Yes… you can take this bag down to the car and take me to the airport." Johnny said, shoving the bag into his guard's hands.

"Yes, sir… I'll have the car brought around for you." Rafe said.

"Oh and Rafe? If Claudia or Trevor asks… you know nothing about where I am." Johnny said and Rafe nodded.

Johnny then took out his cell phone and placed a call to order two first class tickets to Milan, Italy out of JFK for that night. He would take Lulu to his uncle Rudy's villa until this entire situation blew over. She would be safe out of the country but away from anyone that was hired by Claudia to kill her.

* * *

Lulu was standing in the small Port Charles airport, ticket in hand. Her guards had dropped her off in the front in order to not draw so much attention. They wanted to do this as discretely as possible. She stood in front of security, staring at her ticket. She didn't want to go. If she crossed that line, she would have to get on that plane. She would have to leave behind the only family she's ever known. She'd have to leave behind the only guy she had ever really loved. Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled by the arm.

"Get your hands off me!" she shrieked, swinging her purse in the direction of her attacker.

"Hey! Easy! It's just me!" Johnny said, ducking the blow from her purse.

Lulu dropped everything in her hands and flung her arms around his neck, apologizing up and down for almost knocking him out with her purse.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I have to get you out of here…" he said, ushering her back outside where she had just been dropped off.

"What? You were the one who told me that I needed to get out of town." She said, pulling her arm from his grasp.

"Claudia knows that you're heading to Paris… if you get on that plane, you won't be able to step out of the airport alive…" he said.

"Well this is just great…" she said, folding her arms.

"We don't have time for your sarcasm… we need to get out of here." He said, pulling her towards the car.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"I'm taking you to JFK and we're going to Italy…" he said.

"But, they might find out that I'm not on the plane!" Lulu cried.

"But we'll be long gone by then… come on… we have exactly an hour and a half to get to JFK." He said.

She didn't argue with him. She lowered her head and climbed into the car. She tried to conceal a smile. He was running away with her. If it wasn't a matter of life or death, she would be ecstatic but for now, being content with flying off to Italy with him would have to do.


	9. Take Me Now

**Author's Note:** I know that it's been a while since I last updated but I wanted this chapter to be perfect and I promise that you'll think that this chapter was worth the wait. Happy reading!

**Chapter 9 – Take Me Now**

Jason Morgan was pacing the in the foyer of Sonny's house. Jason never showed any signs of panic but this was definitely a worthy time to show panic. Lulu had never arrived in Paris. The car that was supposed to pick her up from the airport waited there for two hours after the plane was supposed to have landed and still no Lulu. The driver then made a call to Jason, who instantly came over to see Sonny. Maybe Lulu had contacted him about a delayed flight.

"Jason? Is that you?"

Jason looked up and saw Carly standing in front of him in her black silk robe. She was holding her morning cup of coffee and she looked like she didn't get a lot of sleep. Probably worried about Lulu's safety, he thought. She immediately hugged him and he could tell that she was scared.

"Has Lulu called? Did she make it to Paris alright?" Carly asked.

"Um… where's Sonny? I need to talk to him… it's kind of important." Jason asked.

"I'm right here," Sonny said, walking into the foyer, "What is it?"

Jason headed into the living room, followed by both Sonny and Carly. He sighed heavily and wondered how he was going to tell them that their daughter was missing and could be anywhere in the world.

"Have you two heard from Lulu?" Jason asked.

"No… I figured that she would call when she got settled at Brenda's." Sonny said.

"She's not at Brenda's…" Jason said.

"How do you know that?" Carly asked.

"Because the driver that was hired to pick Lulu up said that she never came out of the airport." Jason said.

"Are you telling me that Lulu's missing?" Carly cried.

"Jason… this had better be a joke…" Sonny said, lowering his voice.

"Oh my god, Sonny! Lulu's gone!" Carly sobbed.

"Jason… I want you to get all of our men on finding my daughter… call up all of our contacts and have them keep their eyes and ears open…" Sonny said.

Jason nodded and exited the living room. Sonny turned to his wife and wrapped his arms around her and he let her sob on his shoulder, repeating over and over again to her that he would find their daughter.

* * *

The morning sun spilled into Lulu's bedroom through the thin white curtains of the Zacchara villa right outside of Milan. Her eyes fluttered open to the sound of pots clinking downstairs and the cool breeze gently swayed the white curtains back and forth over the windows. She sat up and realized that this was the first time in weeks that she felt at ease when she woke up. They had arrived in Italy the previous afternoon and then spent two hours driving from the airport to the villa. She was so tired the night before and she immediately passed out in bed when Johnny had shown her to her room. She slipped out of bed and grabbed a robe that was draped over a chair that was sitting in front of an antique vanity mirror. The house was quiet with the exception of the sound of water running downstairs in the kitchen area. She tiptoed downstairs and found an elaborate breakfast spread in the dining room.

"Good morning,"

Lulu looked up and saw Johnny, with a plate of scrambled eggs in his hand and a tired grin on his face.

"Good morning to you too," she said, sitting down at the table. He set the plate down in the center and she inhaled the wonderful smells of the breakfast.

"I didn't know you could cook," she said, picking up the fork that was placed in front of her.

"I don't," he said, grinning sheepishly.

"So… what's all this?" Lulu asked.

"Emilio is our cook here… wait until you try his homemade spinach and cheese stuffed ravioli… it's… well for lack of a better word… orgasmic." He said, smirking.

Lulu, who was taking a sip of orange juice, immediately snorted and Johnny laughed as she covered her mouth to prevent shooting juice out of her nose. He sat down and began piling food on his plate. He looked different… it was as if he had taken off some sort of armor and was able to breathe easy for the first time. He seemed almost… happy.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" he asked, bringing Lulu out of her trance.

"Oh… no…" she said, blushing, and immediately reached for the coffee cake.

Johnny chuckled and took a sip of coffee, never taking his eyes off her. He couldn't deny how beautiful she looked. Her blond hair fell loose around her face and the silk robe she was wearing was hanging off her shoulder, revealing a patch of bare skin. He bit his bottom lip and tried to fight the urge to knock the plate out of her hands and kiss her.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"No—of course not! What could be wrong?" he asked, going back to his own plate.

Now it was Lulu's turn to laugh and she stood up to go to the kitchen to get some milk and sugar for her coffee. She couldn't understand how Johnny could take his coffee black. The kitchen was huge and she had no idea where the sugar could be. She went over to one of the cabinets but found that she was too short to reach the handle. She tried rising up on the balls of her feet but still couldn't reach. Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands hold her hips. She turned around and saw Johnny standing close. He opened the cabinet and took out the bag of sugar and set it on the countertop.

"Thanks," she muttered.

He inched closer to her and he smelled like he just walked out of the shower. She closed her eyes and exhaled nervously. She could never tell what he wanted. One minute he could be kissing her and the next he was pushing her away.

"You're welcome," he whispered and he turned around and walked out of the kitchen and back into the dining area.

* * *

Claudia Zacchara was standing on the terrace, overlooking her father's prized rose garden. A part of her wanted to take a lighter out of her pocket and torch the entire thing. Her life had been stolen by her father when he sent her away to boarding school and then to live with her uncle Rudy. She had to have called the mansion a million times, crying and begging to come home to her family and to Johnny, especially after Rudy told her that Anthony had killed Johnny's mother, Maria. However, her father wouldn't hear anything of her returning home. She believed that his words were somewhere along the lines of "I have no daughter," or "I won't let you take Johnny away from me," or something like that. Her father had been crazy like that for years but it didn't make his words any less hurtful. Now all that was left of this house that was Anthony's was that damn rose garden that he loved more than either of his children. Suddenly, her phone began to ring.

"Zacchara," she said.

"The Corinthos girl never checked into her flight to Paris,"

"Well, that's not my fault… you assigned me to kill Carly… Lulu was your end of the deal." Claudia said, matter-of-factly as she admired her blood red nails.

"Watch that tone with me, Zacchara… you need me for your takeover of the Corinthos-Morgan organization."

"What do you want me to do?" Claudia growled.

"I'm altering the deal… I don't have the means to start a search for Lulu… I'm supposed to be dead, remember? But you have all of that money at your disposal and can locate her and then take her out… I'll take care of Carly..."

"Fine… I'll get my people on it." Claudia said, snapping her phone shut.

Claudia walked back into the study and went for a glass of scotch when Trevor walked into the study. She looked to him and rolled her eyes and went back to her drink.

"We have a situation…" Trevor said.

"What is it now, Trevor?" she asked.

"John's missing…" he said.

Claudia dropped her glass and it shattered against the dark wooden floor. She looked sharply to her attorney, anger seething in her eyes.

"He's missing?" she growled.

"None of the guards know where he is… but I checked his room and he did pack up his stuff… did he tell you if he was taking a trip?" Trevor asked.

"Because John and I are so close now?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"So I'm guessing that's a no." he said.

"Find my brother… I don't care what you have to do… just find him." she barked.

* * *

Lulu was standing on the balcony of her bedroom. Night had fallen and the air was cool and fresh. The gentle breeze brushed the skirt of her dress, making it dance in the wind. It was completely dark and quiet outside but it was refreshing to be away from the bustle of Port Charles, the cars whizzing by, the sounds of the waterfront, the lights of the skyline, and the other things that came with living there. A soft knock rapped on the door and she turned around.

"Come in," she said.

The door inched open and Johnny poked his head into her room. She smiled warmly at him and ushered him into her bedroom. He sat down on the bed and looked at her, grinning.

"What are you staring at?" she asked.

"You," he said.

She felt herself blush and walked back over towards the balcony. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him walk over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. She exhaled and put her hand on his.

"Lulu," he whispered.

There was so much need in his voice… so much passion that was laced in the way he said her name that it almost made her collapse into his arms. He turned her around slowly and gently fingered her lips. She felt like she could explode. She couldn't stand this anymore. He tilted her chin up to him and kissed her softly. Her hand came to his face and she felt his arm wrap around her lower back and pull her into him. He pulled away and exhaled softly.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said.

"You're a terrible liar…" she whispered and he chuckled slightly.

"You always have to be right, don't you?" he said.

"Don't do that…" she said.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Play games with me…" she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"That thing at breakfast… the kissing one minute and then pushing me away the next… I can't—" she started.

He quickly silenced her by gently running his fingertips across her lips again and he bent over and rested his forehead on hers. She took his hands in hers and squeezed them affectionately. This was killing her. She couldn't take this hot and cold game that he was playing for much longer. She needed him and she needed him to need her too.

"I'm in love with you… and I can't make it stop." He whispered, turning away from her and walking back towards her bed. His response caught her completely off-guard. _He loved her_. She could feel her mouth spread into a smile 

"Who says you have to?" she asked, following him.

"My common sense," he muttered.

She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her face in his shirt, inhaling his intoxicating cologne. She could feel him breathing and knew that his resolve was crumbling. She rose on her toes and began kissing the back of his neck. 

"But I love you too, Johnny…" she murmured.

He exhaled shakily and whirled around and kissed her passionately. That wall that Johnny had built up around him had finally been knocked down and a flood of desire for Lulu took over. He felt her hands slide underneath his shirt and up his chest. Her hands wandered to his back and then pulled his thin white cotton t-shirt upwards. She pushed him backwards, breaking the kiss, and peeled the shirt off of him. He cupped her face into his hands and kissed her sweetly. Moving his lips from hers to her neck, his hands found the zipper of her dress. He carefully pulled the zipper down and watched the dress slide gracefully down her body and into a useless pile of fabric at her feet. She smiled as she saw his cheeks turn red and pulled him towards her by the waistband of his black athletic pants. She pulled the drawstrings gently so that they slowly came loose in her fingers. Their lips met with the same fever that 

they had before and Johnny bent down, swept Lulu into his arms and carried her to the bed. He placed her gently beneath him on the bed, never taking his eyes off her. Her hand came to his face and he closed his eyes and exhaled softly at her touch. He took her hand in his and gently kissed her fingertips. He bent over and kissed her again, reigniting the passion that had taken over them before. They stripped each other of their remaining articles of clothing so that all they could feel was each other's bare skin. He broke from her lips and moved down to her neck, making her wrap her arms around him and sigh dreamily. She felt him shift over her and gasped sharply as she took him into her. They started slow, savoring every moment together, admiring every inch of each other's bodies with their lips and their hands. After dancing around this possibility for all of this time, the feeling of their bodies moving together was almost too much to bear. 

"Johnny," she whispered.

He could feel her ragged breath on his face and knew that she was close. He buried her mouth in a kiss as to keep their cries of passion to a minimum. Her hands came to his face and she kissed him deeply, making his head spin. He never knew that he could feel like this for someone. Johnny Zacchara… destined to be alone… that's what he always thought. He opened his eyes and gazed at this beautiful blonde lying beneath him and wondered how he could've been so wrong. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Her lips were right next to his ear, panting and repeating his name softly. She bore her nails into his back and cried out sharply. Her breath was labored from her release and he soon collapsed into her arms, trembling from his own. He felt her hands come up to his face and her lips softly kissing his forehead.

"I love you, Johnny Zacchara…" she whispered.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. Her fingers were so gentle, touching him as if he were about to break. He smiled wearily and kissed her. 

"I love you too, Lulu Spencer-Corinthos…" he said.

She brought him back down onto the bed and he brought her into him, nuzzling his face into her neck. She giggled softly and ran her fingers through his dark brown hair. He sighed contently and closed his eyes. After living alone for so long, Johnny wanted nothing more than to hold Lulu forever… because now that he had her, there was no way that he could live without her.


	10. Questions

**Chapter 10 – Questions**

Jason Morgan was standing on the docks on Elm Street, watching the ships go by. His mind was in a million different places. Sonny was acting erratically with the whole Zacchara issue, Carly was emotional over being shot and Lulu missing, and Lulu could be anywhere in the world… that was, if she was still alive. He heard footsteps behind him and he immediately put his hand on his gun.

"Don't shoot…"

He turned around and saw Claudia Zacchara standing in front of him. She was wearing a black leather jacket, tight black jeans, and fire-engine red pumps. She was holding up her hands, to show that she wasn't armed. She did bring two bodyguards with her but they stayed behind as she walked towards him.

"What do you want?" Jason asked.

"My brother is missing and I want to know if your boss is holding him somewhere…" Claudia said.

"Maybe your brother should stay away from Sonny's daughter…" Jason spat back.

"You have my baby brother and I want him back!" she screamed.

"Even if we did have Johnny… it serves him right for being grabbed… your brother is smug and defiant and if he's not careful, he's going to wind up dead." Jason said.

Claudia gave Jason one last look and turned on her heel and left the docks. Jason rolled his eyes and flipped open his phone. He then suddenly had a flash of Johnny and Lulu at Kelly's.

"Of course…" Jason muttered and he immediately snapped his phone shut and ran in the direction of Kelly's.

* * *

Spinelli was sitting in front of his laptop in Kelly's, staring at the computer screen, completely out of ideas. He had no idea how he was going to find Lulu. She could be anywhere in the world and she was careful not to leave any trace of her whereabouts. There were no flight reservations in her name, no financial transactions in her name… it was like she vanished into thin air.

"Fear not, blonde one… I, the jackal, will find you…" Spinelli muttered.

Suddenly, Spinelli felt a pair of hands slide down his shoulders and down his arms. He whirled around and saw Georgie beaming at him. She pressed her lips to his cheek and he blushed.

"Hey… is everything alright?" she asked.

"Yes… well… no… the elusive blond one is… well… being elusive. The jackal would appreciate wise and fair Georgie's guidance." Spinelli said, with a pleading smile.

"Alright," she said, pulling up a chair next to him, "What do we have so far?"

Spinelli opened his mouth to say something when Jason came through the door of Kelly's. He quickly sat down at the table with Georgie and Spinelli.

"Quick… check all of Johnny Zacchara's purchases in the past two weeks." Jason said.

"Why do we need to know where the ominous spawn does his shopping?" Spinelli asked.

"I just met Claudia Zacchara down at the docks and she accused me of holding Johnny…" Jason said.

"You mean that Johnny's missing too?" Georgie asked.

"Meaning that the ominous Zacchara spawn must have the blond one…" Spinelli said.

Spinelli immediately began typing furiously, trying to hack into any relevant database. Lulu was his closest friend besides Georgie. He had a crush on her but Lulu was one of the people who opened his eyes to the girl who really loved him for who he was, Georgie and for that he would always be grateful to her.

"Johnny wouldn't do anything to hurt Lulu, would he?" Georgie asked Jason.

"The Zaccharas want this territory and they'll do anything to get it… and everyone knows that Sonny's family is his Achilles heel." Jason said.

"Found something!" Spinelli exclaimed and Jason and Georgie turned their focus to him.

"Johnny's American Express card was used for a rather large purchase at Tiffany's in Milan today and apparently the Zaccharas own a large villa two hours outside of the city." Spinelli said, triumphantly.

"Ok, I'm going to the airport… if you find out anything else important, call me." Jason said, leaving his seat.

"Tiffany's?" Georgie asked.

"An odd place to spend money when holding a prisoner… I know…" Spinelli said.

* * *

Lulu woke up to an empty bed. She sat up, gathering up the pale yellow sheets to her body. She hoped that last night wasn't a dream because it was too wonderful to all not be real. Johnny's hands, his lips, his eyes… was it all in her head? Did she not hear him say that he loved her before she drifted off to sleep? Did she not tell him that she loved him more than anything else in the world?

"Hey,"

She looked up and saw Johnny standing in her doorway. He was leaning against the entryway, hands shoved into his pockets and a grin on his face.

"Good morning," she said.

"Good afternoon," he corrected, walking over to the bed.

"You're kidding me…" she said, reaching over to pick up her watch but he was right. The clock read 12:54 PM.

He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gently pulled him down on top of her. He pulled away and rested his forehead on hers. Her hand came to his face and he smiled.

"When I woke up and you weren't here…" she whispered.

"I'm here now," he whispered back, running his fingers over her lips.

"Where'd you go?" she asked.

"And ruin the surprise?" he laughed.

"You bought me a present?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.

"I'm not saying anything…" he said, doing the mocking zipping lips motion and she laughed.

"Aw… come on… I'll trade you something for it." She said.

"For what, exactly?" he said, raising his eyebrow.

"Anything you want," she said with a sultry smile curving across her lips. He laughed and kissed her. She wrapped his arms around his neck again and returned his kiss.

"You know that you shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning," she whispered.

"True," he muttered in between kisses.

"You probably shouldn't have gotten dressed either," she giggled and he laughed again.

"Well if I hadn't, I wouldn't have this amazing surprise planned for you…" he said.

"Ok… ok… you win… I'll wait." She said.

He smiled at her and went to the other side of the room to the closet. She couldn't take her eyes off him as he moved across the room. He was completely flawless, from his perfectly sculpted dark brown hair to his brand new Nike running shoes. He looked like he belonged in a magazine. She felt herself smiling. He reemerged with a pair of her cropped pants and a tank top and threw them in her direction.

"Good… now, get up and get dressed… meet me downstairs in ten minutes… I promise that you're going to love your surprise." He said.

* * *

Sonny was sitting in his office, looking at the phone, almost trying to make it ring. He was worried sick about Lulu and all he wanted was a call from her so that he knew that she was alright. Suddenly, there was a knock at his door.

"Yeah?" Sonny asked.

"A Claudia Zacchara to see you…" Max said, poking his head through the door.

"Send her in," he said.

Max nodded and Claudia walked in and immediately pointed a gun at Sonny's chest. There was a fury in her eyes that he had never seen in a woman before, not even when he made Carly angry.

"You have my brother and I want him back now, Corinthos!" Claudia growled.

"You need to get your facts straight, Zacchara… your brother kidnapped my daughter! If anything, I should be pointing a gun at you." Sonny said.

"You have no idea the lengths I will go for my brother… he's all I have in this world!" Claudia screamed.

"Probably as far I would go for my kids…" he said.

Claudia walked around the desk and jabbed the gun right into Sonny's chest. Her dark eyes were blazing with fury but Sonny didn't even flinch.

"You have twenty-four hours to give me confirmation that my brother is ok. If not, I won't hesitate blowing a hole in your chest." Claudia said and she drew back the gun and turned on her pointy red heel and strode out of the office.

* * *

"You were totally right about the ravioli." Lulu said, spearing another piece with her fork.

Johnny laughed and filled up his glass with red wine. Lulu had dragged him into every designer store in Milan but he couldn't say no when she flashed those puppy dog eyes. He was probably going to get a lecture from Claudia and the family accountant but he couldn't resist spoiling her when everything she tried on looked gorgeous on her.

"I told you," he said before taking a sip of wine.

"It truly is orgasmic… what the hell do I need you for?" she laughed.

"Ha! Funny… such a comedian…" he muttered.

"I'm just kidding…" she said, caressing his hand.

"You're only saying that because you know that I have another surprise for you…" he said.

"Johnny… all of this is too much… shopping… the tour around Milan… dinner…" she said.

"And I'm not even finished." He said, smiling.

She squeezed his hand affectionately and smiled back at him. Everyone had told her about how crazy and unstable Johnny Zacchara was but that couldn't have been further from the truth. He was so gentle, so kind and so loving to her. He withdrew his hand and started searching his pockets for something. Her eyebrows folded into a quizzical expression.

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

"Hold on… let me just find—ah! Here it is." He said.

He stood up and walked over to her chair. He was so nervous and she didn't know why. She looked up at him with a huge smile on her face, not knowing what he was up to. She had never seen him act like this but whatever it was must've been important because Johnny wasn't the one to show his nerves. He exhaled and got down on one knee and Lulu's heart started pounding against her chest.

"Johnny? What are you doing?" she asked.

"Lulu…" he said, taking her hand in his. Her hand came up to his face and he smiled. He kissed the inside of her hand and sighed.

"Last night… as I was watching you sleep and listening to the pattern of your breathing… I just started thinking…" he started.

"About what?" she asked.

"About everything… my life before I met you… how I was in such a dark place… and how in that moment that I saw you step out of the elevator at the ball, I knew that you would be the one to change my life." He said.

She felt her face break out into a joyous smile and she could feel a few tears welling up in her eyes from his words. No one had ever said anything like that to her before and knowing how hard it was for Johnny to let down his guard, it made his words that much sweeter.

"And then I remembered when I thought I lost you when you got shot… and for the first time since my mother died, I felt like I couldn't breathe… like there was nothing left on this planet for me… but then last night… being with you, holding you…" he started.

"Among other things," she chuckled and Johnny smiled.

"True… but it wasn't even about that… for the first time in my life, I realized that I didn't have to do this alone… I could have someone by my side… I wanted you by my side, _forever_." He said and reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box.

"Johnny… is that—" she started but she was quickly silenced when he opened the box. It was the largest ring that she had ever seen, even bigger than the one that Sonny had bought Carly after they got remarried four years back. She looked from the ring to Johnny and then back to the ring. She covered her mouth with her hands and shook her head in disbelief.

"No…" she whispered but Johnny just smiled and took her hand.

"Lesley Lu Spencer- Corinthos… will you marry me?" he asked.

* * *

Jason came down the stairs of his penthouse, his black travel bag in one hand and a plane ticket in the other. He set the plane ticket down on his desk and put his black leather jacket on.

"Someone wants to say bye to daddy…"

He whirled around and saw Sam holding their four-month old son in her arms. He smiled and took Danny in his arms. Sam smiled and ran her fingers through her son's growing sandy blond hair.

"He's looking more and more like you every day… I'm dreading the day when we're going to have to beat all of those girls off him." Sam laughed.

"Awww… looks like mommy is going to ruin all of your fun…" Jason said, rubbing his son's stomach and they both laughed.

"So, where are you going this time?" she asked.

"Italy… Spinelli tracked Johnny Zacchara there…" he said, gently rocking back and forth with Danny in his arms.

"Wow… how did he manage to do that?" she asked.

"He looked at credit card purchases and traced them to Milan…" he started.

"I don't think it's fair that you get to go to Milan on business…" she teased.

"Sonny and Claudia Zacchara are on a warpath… Claudia thinks that we have Johnny and Sonny thinks that Johnny kidnapped Lulu…" he said.

"What do you think?" Sam asked.

"I don't think that Johnny is anything like his father or sister… but I need to bring Lulu back before Sonny starts a mob war that we may not be able to win…" he said.

He handed the baby back to Sam and picked up his bag. He bent over to kiss Danny's head and then his wife.

"I love you," Jason said.

"I love you too… please be careful." She whispered.

* * *

This was the first time in Lulu's life that she was speechless. She opened her mouth to say something… anything… but nothing came out. So many thoughts were running through her mind. _He wanted to marry her_. She never really thought about getting married. Of course she thought that it would happen, eventually but now that she was sitting across from the biggest ring that she would probably ever see in her lifetime, she had no idea what to say. She bit her trembling bottom lip.

"Lulu?" he asked, caressing her arm.

"A—Are you sure?" she managed to get out.

"What? Of course I'm sure! I've never been so sure of anything in my life, Lulu." He said.

"We—we've only..." she started.

"I know we haven't known each other for that long but what I feel for you and what's in my heart is so strong… I love you, Lulu… and I don't want to live another day without you in my life." Johnny said.

"Oh my god… you are totally serious… you really want me to marry you." She said, grasping his hand.

"Will you?" he asked, taking the ring out of its holder and gently slipping it on her finger.

It was a perfect fit, just as Lulu thought it would be. She smiled and broke out into a giddy laughter and threw her arms around him, repeating yes over and over again. He scooped her up into his arms and twirled her around like in every romantic movie that she had ever seen. He kissed her repeatedly and they couldn't stop laughing.

"Tomorrow…" he said.

"Tomorrow?" she repeated, raising her eyebrow.

"We're in one of the most beautiful places in the world, why waste it? And… I don't want to wait another day without making you Mrs. John Zacchara…" he said, smirking.

"Ok, then… goodnight." She said, kissing him lightly on the lips before standing up.

"Hold on… where are you going?" he asked, catching her wrist in his hand.

"Upstairs to my room…" she said.

"And I'm not allowed?" he laughed.

"Well… it's fifteen minutes 'til midnight and you know that it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding… and with where our families are heading, we can't afford anything else to get in the way of us being happy…" she said, smiling.

"I never pegged you for being traditional…" he laughed.

"Goodnight, Johnny… I'll see you in the morning." she said, kissing him.

"Goodnight…" he said.

He watched her walk across the room towards the staircase. She looked absolutely radiant and felt a goofy smile spread across his face. She smiled at him and walked upstairs. He exhaled contently and heard her bedroom door close. This was his chance to get things right. This was his chance for his own happy ending.


	11. Truly Madly Deeply

**Author's Note:** I know that this chapter took longer than the others… it was really hard because I wanted to get it perfect and I just had an awful case of writer's block but I finally finished it so enjoy!! Don't forget to review!! :)

**Chapter 11 – Truly Madly Deeply**

The fierce wind whipped the trees around on Sonny Corinthos' property. The weather man said that a storm was coming soon and would probably dump more snow in Port Charles. Carly was standing in her bedroom, looking out at the backyard. She folded her arms across her chest and sighed heavily. Sometimes she wondered if life with Sonny was worth it. Morgan should be able to run around the park without having two guards on him all the time and Michael was getting to that age where he was supposed to be getting more responsibilities and more independence. Neither of her kids rode the school bus but got chauffeured to school in sleek black town cars with two guards. Now, Lulu was missing. She didn't know if she had run away or had been grabbed. There was no word: no ransom or anything else of that sort. Carly wondered if she was hurting her kids by being with a man like Sonny… they could never be normal kids. She closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands.

"Mom?"

Carly turned around and saw Michael standing behind her. She smiled and brought him in close, his bright red hair snuggling against her chest. She exhaled deeply and kissed the top of his head.

"Are you ok?" he asked, looking up at Carly with those big eyes of his.

"Yeah, I'm ok… I'm just a little bit tired," she said, putting on a fake smile.

"Are you worried about Lulu?" he asked and she chuckled. _There was no fooling this kid_.

"Yes… but Jason is going to find her… I promise." She said.

"I miss her too," Michael said.

"Oh, honey… I know… I know…" she said.

* * *

Georgie cursed under her breath as she got Lulu's voicemail again for the twelfth time. This wasn't like Lulu to not answer her phone for two days, not unless if something happened. Georgie dialed again as she walked towards the apartment building that Spinelli and Jason lived in.

_Hi, you've reached Lulu Spencer-Corinthos… I can't come to the phone right now but leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!_

"Lulu! You need to call me to tell me that you're ok… everyone here is worried sick about you since you never made it to Paris… Jason and Spinelli tracked Johnny down to Italy and Jason is on his way there as we speak… Sonny thinks that Johnny kidnapped you but I don't think that he would take you anywhere against your will… unless if it was for your own good… so if you get this message, you need to get out of 

Italy now. I don't know if Jason is going to be able to get a flight out because of the weather but I'm just giving you and Johnny a heads up… but please call me, Lulu. I'm worried about you… " she said.

She snapped her phone shut as the elevator doors opened. Georgie stepped out and headed down the hall to Spinelli's penthouse apartment. Jason convinced Sonny to let Spinelli move into Sonny's old penthouse apartment down the hall. It wasn't being used and when Sam got pregnant, Spinelli began to feel like he had overstayed his welcome. However, with Sonny's old apartment, Spinelli could be just down the hall in case if anything came up.

"Hello, Ms. Jones…" one of the guards said civilly as Georgie passed by.

"Hi," she muttered. She would probably never get used to bodyguards.

She took her key out of her pocket and opened the door. Spinelli was fast asleep on the couch with a piece of half eaten pizza on a paper plate on his stomach and the remote for the television in one of his hands. Georgie giggled and carefully cleaned up the area around her boyfriend without waking him. She sighed heavily, not being able to stop worrying about Lulu. She didn't know the inner workings of the business like Jason, Sonny or Johnny but she had this feeling that Johnny wouldn't take Lulu unless if he knew something was going to happen. She couldn't get the image of seeing the two of them in the alley at Kelly's. It was all over his face how much he cared about her, there was no way in the world that "sadistic and manipulative" Johnny Zacchara could fake that look in his eye when he looked at Lulu.

Suddenly, Spinelli's phone began to ring. He woke up violently and fell off the couch. Georgie couldn't help but to burst out into laughter as he scrambled for his phone. She picked up the phone and handed it to him.

"This is the Jackal speaking…" he muttered sleepily into the phone.

"Oh! Stone Cold! Have you found the blonde one and beaten the ominous spawn to a miserable pulp? Huh? Yes, the weather is most unfavorable… what? You won't be able to get a flight out until the storm passes? That could give the ominous spawn ample amount of time to whisk the blonde one to another country! My apologies, Stone Cold… I didn't mean to yell… yes… I will alert Mr. Corinthos and the Valkyrie at once about this situation… ok… bye…" he said, hanging up the phone. He turned to her with his inexplicably worried face that was unique to only him and she took his hand.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Stone Cold can't get a flight out of Port Charles due to the adverse weather…" Spinelli said slowly.

"Oh no," she said, feigning worry.

"Yes, he fears that the ominous Zacchara spawn will move the blonde one very quickly and without the Jackal's computer skills readily available, I fear that Stone Cold's search will be all for nothing." He said.

"I'm sure that Jason will be able to find Lulu…" she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I hope so too, Georgie… I fear if Lulu isn't found soon, Mr. Corinthos will start a most unpleasant and catastrophic mob war against the Zaccharas…" he muttered.

* * *

It was a perfect afternoon. The sun was bright overhead and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. There was a soft breeze that seemed to roll over the tall grass like gentle waves in the ocean. Johnny inhaled the fresh air as he leaned onto the railing of the terrace. If this was a dream, he surely never wanted to wake up. He turned around and leaned against the railing, shoving his hands into the pockets of his black slacks. In a few moments, Lulu would be walking through those double doors, in a gorgeous white dress, ready to start their life together. He smiled and couldn't believe what he was doing. A year ago, if someone had told him that he would be getting married, he would've laughed in their face and told them that he was never going to get married. It was too complicated and led to too many problems.

"Johnny,"

He looked up and saw Lulu standing in the doorway. He couldn't help but to smile. How could he have been so wrong before? Any lingering doubts in his mind were quickly tossed aside. The sight of her took his breath away. She looked like an angel standing in front of him. Her dress was strapless and had a thin embroidered net with a small train over the solid white dress. She had her hair pinned up, only letting a few loose golden curls fall to her face, and she was holding a small bouquet of pale yellow flowers. She stepped towards him, a nervous smile spreading across her face.

"Wow…" he exhaled and she laughed.

"Are we ready to start?" the priest asked.

"Yes," Lulu said, smiling.

He took her hand in his as they walked over towards the edge of the terrace. Neither of them paid much attention to the priest's words as he started the ceremony. They were too busy looking into each other's eyes and smiling happily at each other. Lulu never thought that she could be this happy than she was in this moment. The stories that she heard about her own parents falling in love and then witnessing Sonny and Carly's love made her want her own love story and now she had it.

"If you would like to start your vows…" the priest said softly. They both looked to each other and laughed. They clearly didn't stay up the previous night writing and rehearsing vows as many couples did.

"I guess I'll go first…" Johnny said. She smiled warmly at him and squeezed his hand lovingly. He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.

"I never thought that I would have this day… I never thought that I would find one woman that would accept me or love me enough to want to even consider marrying me… I'm—I was damaged… years of watching my father slipping into his madness and having my family torn apart… I didn't think that life could hold this much joy for me…. Until I met you." He said and she smiled.

"When I first saw you… it felt like I was shook awake from a long sleep… you made me fall in love with life again… you made me want a lifetime and I've come to realize that I want a lifetime… with you and only you." He said.

His hand gently squeezed hers and she smiled widely at him. She exhaled nervously but happily. As much as it scared her to mean that much to someone, she was so happy to hear his words. Knowing that she had someone willing to stand by her forever made her so incredibly happy.

"I, John Anthony Zacchara… take you, Lesley Lu Spencer-Corinthos… to be my wife… to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part…" he said, smiling.

"I think—I think that I've been waiting… all of my life for you, Johnny. For the longest time, I felt like a part of me was missing that neither my real parents or Sonny and Carly could ever fill… I would just sit up, night after night… wondering why I wasn't truly happy when I thought that I had everything that I could ever want… but that all changed when I met you." She said.

Tears were forming in her eyes and Johnny brushed them away and smiled lovingly at her. She amazed him. He never would have thought that he could feel this way about anyone. With the volatile relationship between his parents, he shouldn't have been able to fall in love… he thought that he would never want to fall in love… but Lulu had changed all that. She walked into his life and changed everything. He didn't need to have his tough exterior with her. She was that safe place that he could always depend on where he wouldn't need his defense mechanisms.

"You and your love have made me feel whole… I never want to go another day without you by my side… as my husband… lover… but most importantly, my closest friend… and no matter what happens in the future, I will stand by you… forever." She said, squeezing his hand.

"I, Lesley Lu Spencer-Corinthos… take you, John Anthony Zacchara … to be my husband… to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part…" he said, smiling.

"Well… after that, I think that it's time for the rings…" the priest said, smiling.

Johnny reached into his pocket and pulled out two platinum wedding bands, one for her and one for him. He took the slim band meant for Lulu in one hand and took her slender hand in the other.

"With this ring, I thee wed…" he said, sliding the ring onto her finger. She smiled as joyous tears rolled down her face slowly. She took the ring meant for him in her fingertips and took his strong hand in hers.

"With this ring, I thee wed…" she said, slipping the band onto his finger.

"I now pronounce you… husband and wife." The priest said, closing his bible.

Lulu could hardly contain her joy and covered her mouth with her hands and laughed. Johnny smiled again and brought her towards him, slipping his hand around her waist. She wiped the tears from her 

eyes and she cupped his face in her hands. She felt that her face would break because she was smiling so much. This was her husband.

_Her husband._

He tilted her chin up towards his face. The moment was overwhelming. Her beautiful brilliant eyes, her golden curls in her face, her adorable button nose, those perfectly kissable lips, and her flawless face… This was his wife. He was holding his wife in his arms.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," she said.

He smiled again and bent over and kissed her gently. He would remember this kiss for the rest of his life. It wasn't saturated with furious passion or laced with tears. It was just a simple kiss between two people who adored each other; a kiss of pure joy and tenderness.

* * *

Jason decided that he was never going to fly anywhere ever again. Not a single plane had taken off in the past four hours that he had been in the airport. He knew that he shouldn't have been getting angry with the people working the desk but he couldn't help but to throw his patience out the window with Lulu gone and Sonny out for blood. This wasn't like Lulu. He and Sonny made sure that Lulu knew the dangers of the business when they felt that she was old enough to understand. She had always been an impulsive person but Jason never thought that Lulu would be that reckless to run off with Johnny.

"Are you sure that no other flights are taking off? What about at JFK?" Jason prodded.

"I'm sorry, sir… but no flights are flying out until it is safe to do so." The airline worker said.

"It's important that I get on a flight to Milan, Italy tonight… not to elaborate or anything but it really is a matter of life and death." He said but the woman rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, you and everyone else have used that one on me… I'll check JFK one more time…" she said, punching various keys into her computer.

Jason held his breath and hoped for a flight that would at least get him out of the country. He suddenly heard his phone ring. He took his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open.

"Morgan," Jason said.

"Jason… it's Sonny… listen… if you find Lulu with Johnny… get rid of him." Sonny said.

"But…" Jason started.

"I don't want to hear any excuses… if you find that bastard with my daughter, kill him." Sonny growled before hanging up.

Jason sighed heavily and snapped his phone shut. He had a feeling that Johnny didn't kidnap Lulu. That moment that he saw Lulu and Johnny together at Kelly's, he knew that there was something going on between them. Johnny may have, dare he say it, cared for Lulu and Lulu had never been discrete about her feelings. For once, he hoped that the instinct that everyone praised him for wasn't right this time.

* * *

"What about Egypt?"

Lulu lifted her head up kissed Johnny's chest softly. The cool evening air drifted into the bedroom, brushing past the white curtains. They were lying in bed, the sheets covering their intertwined bodies. The lights were shut off, only letting the hazy burnt orange color of the sunset fill the room.

"I've always wanted to see the pyramids… Jason's got all of those travel books in the penthouse and the pictures of Egypt were phenomenal." Lulu said before kissing him lightly.

"Ok… so we'll add that to our list… then where?" Johnny asked, wrapping his arms around her.

"Morocco, definitely… oh and maybe we could do one of those safaris in Africa… Michael was bragging about seeing all of the giraffes and zebras when Sam and Jason took him and Morgan last winter and I have to admit that I was jealous…" she mused and Johnny laughed.

"Then maybe Australia?" he said.

"Definitely, Jax and Courtney flew us down there for their second wedding… Jax has this gorgeous ranch there with a huge house. I would love to stay there but I'm pretty sure that Courtney has Jax's people looking for us too so Australia is probably out of the question… for now." She said, snuggling into his chest.

"Alright, no Australia for our honeymoon… what about Tahiti? Or Turks and Caicos?" he asked, kissing her hand and she laughed.

"We're never going to go back to Port Charles, are we?" she asked and he laughed.

"What do you mean?" he asked, pulling her in closer to him.

"Ok, so we leave Milan for Rome, Florence, Naples, Egypt, Morocco, the African safari, Tahiti, and then Turks and Caicos?" she asked.

"And don't forget Brussels, Barcelona, London, Athens, and…" he started.

"We're basically travelling the world…" she laughed.

He sat up and looked at her, tracing her lips delicately with his fingertips. She looked so beautiful lying there underneath him. A small smile crept across his face as her engagement ring caught the light from the room and shone brightly.

"I love you… I'd go anywhere in the world with you," he whispered.

"I love you too…" she said, holding his face in her hands.

"But we have to do something about your last name…" he said and they both laughed.

"I'm sure your sister will be thrilled to welcome me into the Zacchara clan…" she teased.

"She probably won't be… but come on, Lesley Lu Spencer-Corinthos-Zacchara? I can barely say that in one breath." Johnny laughed.

"My last names are important to me… they represent all of the part of me and being your wife is an equal part of who I am as is being a Spencer and a part of the Corinthos family." Lulu said softly.

"My wife… the more I say it, the more I like it..." he said, taking her hand in his and she smiled.

He bent over and kissed her slowly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down closer to her. His hands drifted from her face, to her neck, and made their way down to her hips. He was addicted to her body and he was going to spend the rest of his life learning every single millimeter of Lulu's body. She exhaled contently as he kissed the area below her neck. Her nails raked against his back gently and she surrendered her body to him and he slowly made love to her again. He held her in his arms as she drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow would be the start of their life together… of their journey together as partners, lovers, and friends. He looked down at his sleeping wife as she snuggled into his chest and smiled sleepily. He closed his eyes and exhaled softly. For the first time in his life, Johnny welcomed tomorrow with open arms.


	12. Stolen

**A/N:** This chapter is long! Hooray! And we're about halfway through the story (I'm planning on 23-24 chapters) I've been waiting to write this chapter for the longest time because after this chapter, all hell breaks loose and things get exciting! So don't forget to review!! Happy reading!

**Chapter 12 – Stolen**

A huge noise woke Johnny up. The sun was shining brightly already, meaning that it was probably close to nine o'clock in the morning. He yawned and stretched, his hands hitting the large ornate headboard above him. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and noticed that Lulu was already showered and dressed. She had dropped a suitcase and all of her clothes that they bought the few days before were scattered all over the floor. She was cursing and Johnny couldn't help but to laugh.

"Good morning," he said, sitting up.

She looked up at him and smiled. He couldn't wait to wake up every morning to that smile. She looked at him like she hadn't seen him in years and She jumped onto the bed and climbed into his arms. He laughed and squeezed her tightly.

"Good morning to you too," she said, wrapping her arms around him.

"So I had this amazing dream last night that this gorgeous blonde married me," he said, smiling.

"Oh really? Anybody that I know?" she asked, putting her head on his chest.

"Hmm… well, let's see… she's got beautiful eyes and this smile that will melt your heart…" he said, putting his arm around her.

"Wow… sounds like Johnny Zacchara has it bad for this girl." Lulu teased.

She sat up and looked into his eyes, smiling. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her long and slow. His kisses made her never want to come up for air. When he did pull away from her, she felt her lips reaching for his again, wanting more.

"How is my beautiful wife today?" he asked, running his finger over her lips.

"Anxious for her husband to take her on their honeymoon," she exhaled dreamily.

"So I see," he laughed, pointing to the overturned suitcase and the heap of clothing on the floor.

"Alright, I need to go…" she said, sliding off the bed but he caught her arm in his hand.

"Hey! You're not leaving me already, are you?" he asked and she laughed.

"I need to go into town and exchange a few things and then we're off to Rome… so you better be showered, dressed and packed when I get back." She said, picking up a pillow and hitting him with it.

They both laughed and he let go of her arm. She walked over to the closet and pulled out a bag with the items that she planned on returning to the store. His eyes followed her across the room… as she curled her golden hair around her ear, as her skirt swayed as she treaded across the room… he was enamored by her presence.

"I'll be back in a few hours…" she said, walking over to the bed. "Will you be ok, while I'm gone?"

"Hmm… I don't know…" he said and Lulu just laughed again. She bent over and kissed him sweetly on the lips.

"Does that make it better?" she whispered but he shook his head and pulled her towards him and kissed her again. He pulled away and sighed.

"You should go before I decide to throw you down on this bed." Johnny said and she laughed.

"Alright," she said, standing up, "our flight is leaving tonight at 8 o'clock… if I get back and you're not ready to go…"

"Please don't say 'no sex' because you're only going to be hurting yourself." He said, a devious smile curving across his lips and Lulu immediately hit him again with a pillow and laughed.

"You're so disgusting…" she laughed, walking to the door.

"I love you," he said.

She looked back at Johnny. He was sitting cross legged on the bed and his hair wasn't combed and was sticking up in all sort of different directions. He was so handsome though; that smile, those dimples, and his eyes. She could just get lost in his eyes forever. How did she get so lucky to get a man like him? She must have done something good when she was younger or in a past life.

"I love you too," she said.

* * *

Carly watched Sonny as he paced back and forth of the living room. His eyes never left the phone. She knew that this was killing Sonny. His children meant everything to him and not knowing where Lulu was during this dangerous time was taking its toll.

"Sonny," she said.

He turned around and to face her and she immediately walked over to her husband and put her arms around him. He held her in his arms and exhaled shakily.

"Jason is going to find Lulu…" she said.

"If anything happens to her…" he started but Carly hushed him.

"No… don't say that… Jason is going to find Lulu and she's going to be fine…" Carly whispered.

"I don't want my kids to pay for the choices that I've made… they didn't ask for this…" he said.

"Hey…" Carly said, bringing Sonny's head to face her, "Michael, Morgan and Lulu all know that you love them and would do anything for them."

Suddenly, the phone rang and Sonny immediately went to his desk. Carly clasped her hands together and hoped that it was Jason calling with good news.

"Hello?" Sonny asked.

"The twenty-four hours is up… where's my brother?"

"Claudia," he seethed and Carly gritted her teeth.

"You have my brother and I want him back!" Claudia screamed.

"Your brother has my daughter somewhere and I want her back!" Sonny growled.

"My brother doesn't have your daughter! Why would he?" Claudia asked.

"Because I caught him with my daughter at the MetroCourt a few weeks ago and he was primed to take advantage of her!" Sonny yelled.

"My brother is nothing like that! He would never hurt a woman! He is nothing like our father!" Claudia hissed.

"How would you know? You left him in that house alone with your psycho father… you don't know what happened." Sonny taunted.

"My brother is not a monster." She said and with that the line went dead.

"Does Claudia have Lulu? Did she say anything?" Carly implored but Sonny shook his head as he hung up the phone. Carly began to cry and immediately went straight into his arms.

* * *

Lulu strolled out of the Gucci store, waving goodbye to the cashier as she stuffed the receipt in her pocket. She then dove into her purse, looking for her cell phone. She was going to call Johnny to apologize for running late and tell him that she was on her way back to the villa so that they could leave Milan and get started on their honeymoon. She wasn't looking when she immediately collided with another person.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Lulu said, looking up but when she looked up at who she bumped into, she gasped.

"Jason," she exhaled.

Jason took her in his arms and hugged her tightly. The gesture caught her off guard. She had seen him with Sam, Carly and the boys but she couldn't remember the last time that Jason hugged her.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes! Of course, I'm fine… I'm sorry that I didn't call but I just got caught up with…" Lulu started.

"You can tell me what happened on the plane back to Port Charles," he said, taking her by the arm but she pulled her arm out of his grasp.

"The plane back to Port Charles?" she asked.

"Yes… we need to go now." He said, reaching for her but she backed away.

"No! I'm not going anywhere with you." She said.

Jason looked at Lulu like he didn't even recognize her. This wasn't good. Lulu wasn't kidnapped by Johnny as he had hoped. He knew that was an awful thing to wish for, especially after the various times that Carly had been taken away… Ric and Alcazar to start off… but no… this was worse… Lulu had left with Johnny on her own accord.

"You don't understand, Lulu… we have to go." Jason said, grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the car.

"What are you doing? Let me go!" she protested, trying to break his grasp.

"Lulu! Stop it!" Jason roared.

Lulu's blood ran cold and she froze. Jason had never yelled at her before. His blue eyes were hiding simmering frustration that no doubt came from her father. There was a lot that she didn't understand about the business. Many of Jason and Sonny's explanations of why she couldn't do things were incomplete or were simply "you don't understand". Being Sonny's daughter instilled an unconscious fear in her. She never went anywhere without the subtle shadow of bodyguards following her. There was something about Jason's voice this time, however, that made her think that this was something bigger than saying no to her various fits of teenage rebellion.

"Listen to me, if you want Johnny to live, you'll come back to Port Charles with me right now." Jason yelled.

* * *

The sun was just starting to set. Johnny was walking on the terrace, twisting his wedding band on his finger. He couldn't see any cars heading towards the house. He flipped his wrist to look at his watch. It was almost four-thirty. Lulu should've been back hours ago. He tried her on her cell phone but it went straight to voicemail.

"Sir,"

Johnny turned around to see Emilio, the cook, standing in the doorway. He smiled and walked over towards the short and dowdy looking man.

"For you, Mr. Zacchara," Emilo said, handing him the phone.

Johnny's brow furrowed into a confused expression and took the phone from the man. Emilio turned around and headed back into the kitchen.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Oh thank god it's you and you're alright!"

"Claudia?" he asked.

"Yes! Who did you think it was?" Claudia asked.

"What the hell are you doing calling me here? Did Rafe tell you where I was?" he asked.

"You forget that I basically lived in that villa for years, John… I know the phone number." She said.

"Whatever, I'm alright… now goodbye." He said, intending to hang up.

"Wait! Don't you dare hang up on me!" she yelled.

"What do you want, Claudia?" he asked.

"You disappeared without telling me! I was worried about you!" she cried.

"Didn't think you cared so much…" he muttered.

"I do… you know that I'd do anything for you, Johnny… you mean everything to me." Claudia said.

He was surprised at the sincerity in her voice. He hadn't heard her talk like that since she left all of those years ago and the woman that came back just a few months back wasn't the Claudia that he recognized. She was colder and the light that had once been in her eyes was gone. Something had happened during those years that she was away but being the protector that she was, she would never burden her little brother with her trials.

"Fine… I'm fine… I—I just wanted to get away for a while… that's all… I'm sorry that I worried you," he said.

"I need you to stay there for a while… Sonny is out for blood because his daughter is missing." Claudia started.

"Really?" he said, feigning ignorance.

"Sonny thinks that kidnapped her and made up some story about catching you at the MetroCourt with Lulu and how he walked in right when you were about to 'take advantage' of her…" she said.

"I would never do anything like that to Lulu!" he roared but he quickly realized that he probably gave away too much information and began backpedaling, "I don't even know the girl…"

"So, will you promise to stay in Italy until I say so?" she asked.

"Don't worry about me… I don't plan on returning back to Port Charles any time soon…" he said, turning back towards the road, his eyes searching for the car that would deliver Lulu back into his arms.

* * *

Lulu sat in the airport, with her arms folded and her legs crossed in one of those small chairs in the terminal in front of the gate that the flight back to New York would be leaving from. Silent tears were streaming down her face. All she could think about was how this wasn't fair. She suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder but she didn't even flinch.

"So are you still not speaking to me?"

She looked at Jason with an expression that screamed 'Hell no,' and turned away from him. He sighed and set down a bottle of water and a bag of Oreos next to her. He knew that a package of Lulu's favorite cookies wouldn't make her talk but their flight wasn't leaving for another few hours and he knew that she would be hungry soon.

"Michael and Morgan are going to be happy to see you," Jason said, opening his own bottle of water.

"Don't do that…" Lulu snapped.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Guilt me into talking to you with Michael and Morgan… that's low…" she said.

"Lulu… you know that you were wrong by not getting on that plane to go to Paris…" he started.

"Whatever…" she muttered, grabbing the package of Oreos.

"Why are you so angry at me?" Jason asked.

"You kidnapped me! And you won't let me call Johnny to say goodbye… if you're going to make me leave with you, the least that you can do is to give me my purse back so I can call him… he's probably worried about me." She said.

"You know I can't let you…" he said.

"You and Sonny and everyone in that damn town is wrong about Johnny… he's nothing like his sister or his father! You don't even know him." She said.

"He's a Zacchara…" Jason said.

"So someone's last name automatically makes them evil? Do you know how stupid that sounds, Jason?" she cried.

"Lulu, you don't understand…" he said.

"Wow, that's something that I haven't heard before… _Lulu, you don't understand_… but I don't think you understand, Jason… what—what would you do if Sam was taken away from you? What would you do if you couldn't hold her or…" she started but she suddenly realized what she was saying and stopped.

"I would die…" Jason muttered.

Jason looked over at her and saw that she was trying not to cry. He sighed heavily and put his arm around her. He felt sorry for her. Love was something that he or anyone else in this life could take lightly. Being in love when involved in the business wasn't like normal people falling in love. Loving someone in the business could get you killed just because you care about that person. But Jason knew that this had to be worse for Lulu because she was caught in the middle: on one side but in love with someone on the other side. She was treading into dangerous waters.

"Please, Jason… can I call him?" she asked softly.

Jason reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Everything in his head was screaming at him to not give her the cell phone. He would be encouraging this dangerous relationship but he understood that she didn't choose to fall in love with Johnny.

"Here," he said, placing the phone in her hand.

* * *

This was driving him insane. It was getting dark and still no sign of Lulu. Their flight to Rome was leaving in three hours and they were going to miss it if she didn't walk through the door right at that second. He put the bags in the car that was waiting outside to take them to the airport. Johnny paced the living room, phone in hand, dialing Lulu's cell phone number repeatedly.

_Hi, you've reached Lulu Spencer-Corinthos… I can't come to the phone right now but leave your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!_

"Damn it," he cursed, snapping his phone shut but suddenly his phone began to ring.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Johnny?"

He exhaled and smiled at the sound of her voice.

"Lulu… oh my god, I've been so worried." He said.

"I know… I'm so sorry… I'm—" she started but he heard her begin to cry over the phone.

"Hey—hey… don't cry… it's ok… are you alright? Do you need me to come and get you? Where are you calling me from anyway? I don't recognize the number." He said.

"I'm using Jason's phone." She cried.

"Jason's phone?" he asked.

"Jason found me in town... I was walking out of the store… I was going to head back to the house when I—" she said before her voice broke into a fit of sobs.

"Lu… don't cry… please… just tell me where you are." He said, softly. She took a few moments to regroup herself and she exhaled shakily.

"I'm at the airport… Jason's making me go back to Port Charles…" she said.

"Ok, I'm leaving right now…" he said.

"No! You can't… you need to stay there so Sonny won't think that you kidnapped me… Jason got orders to kill you if he saw you." she said.

"Does he know?" Johnny asked.

"Does he know what?" she asked.

"Does Jason know that we're married?" he asked.

"No... I mean—I don't think so… he just knows that I have feelings for you…" she said.

"Ok, I need you to do something…" he said.

"Anything," she exhaled.

"Take off your ring…" he said, swallowing hard.

He never thought that those words could be so hard to say. It shouldn't have meant that much. It was just a piece of jewelry. He could afford to buy her hundreds more; hundreds more that were even more expensive than the one that he spent two hours in the store picking out especially for her. He knew that it wasn't just a piece of jewelry, not to him and especially not to her. He nearly lost it when he heard her start crying again.

"No…" she cried.

"You have to… and you can't tell anyone that we're married… not Jason, not Carly, not Spinelli, not even Georgie." Johnny said, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him.

"I can't… I can't take off my ring… I won't." she said.

"It's too dangerous to let everyone know that we're married… Lulu, please… take it off… I promise that things will work out…" he said.

"Ok… I'll take it off…" she exhaled.

"Thank you… I'll be back in Port Charles as soon as I can…" he said.

"You promise?" she asked.

"Yes…" he said.

"Ok… I have to go… our flight just started boarding…" she said.

"Ok," he said.

There was a long silence between them. Neither of them wanted to hang up but they knew that they had to.

"I love you, Johnny…" she finally said.

"I love you too…" he said.

He heard the click of the phone line disconnecting and he snapped his phone shut. He clenched his phone in his hand and contemplated tossing it across the room, smashing it to pieces. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to be on a plane with Jason headed back to Port Charles. She was supposed to be jetting off to see the world with him on their honeymoon. He flopped down onto the couch and stared down at his own wedding band. He knew that things weren't going to be easy with him and Lulu being married but he didn't think that things would get this bad so soon.


	13. Desperation

**A/N: **I'm so sorry that it's taken so long to update but I've been swamped at school… but I finally finished this chapter! And thank you for all of your wonderful reviews! I thought it would be fun to put a bit of Claudia's background for some justification why she is the way that she is… there maybe a few surprises along the way as well… don't forget to review!

**Chapter 13 – Desperation**

Lulu sat in the town car as it pulled up into the driveway. She felt the car stop in front of the front door and immediately felt sick to her stomach. It was the first time that she had ever seen the house that she loved so much and didn't want to go inside. The door opened and Max poked his head into the car.

"Good to have you back, Lulu…" he said, smiling.

She gave a feeble smile and slid out of the car. She dragged her feet as she walked up the house and opened the door. The foyer was dark and quiet. She threw her coat onto the couch and sighed heavily. She didn't want to be here. She didn't belong here.

"Lulu? Is that you?"

Lulu looked up and saw Carly and Sonny standing in the entryway to the living room. Carly immediately ran to her and threw her arms around Lulu. Sonny came up to them and held both of them in his arms. He was so relieved to have his daughter home safe.

"We were so worried about you, Lu…" Carly said.

"I'm sorry that I scared you…" Lulu said softly.

"It doesn't matter now… you're back and you're safe…" Sonny said, running his fingers through Lulu's golden hair but she pushed his hand away and walked over to the stairs.

"I'm tired… didn't get much sleep on the plane. I'm going to go take a nap." Lulu muttered.

She walked upstairs and down the hall to her room. As soon as she shut the door behind her, she sank down to the floor and cried. She reached into her pocket and took out her engagement and wedding rings. She clenched them in her hand and cried harder. This was torture. She wiped her eyes and put her rings back on her finger. She exhaled sharply and held her hand close to her heart. She ached for Johnny. She needed to feel his arms around her, to have him hold her as she fell asleep, to wipe the tears away and kiss her slow and draw out her breath with his lips. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Lulu? Can I come in?" Carly asked.

Lulu wiped her eyes and took off her rings and told Carly to come in. The door swung open and Carly walked in slowly. Lulu knew that Carly could tell that something was wrong.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Carly asked.

"About what?" Lulu asked, sitting down on her bed.

"Why you ran away? Why you didn't call? We can start there…" Carly started.

"I don't want to talk about it…" Lulu said, lying back on the bed.

"Lulu… did—did Johnny—did Johnny hurt you?" Carly asked.

Lulu sat up sharply and looked at Carly. To even insinuate that Johnny could hurt her made Lulu enraged. Johnny would never and could never hurt her. She wanted to scream it at the top of her lungs so that everyone could leave her and Johnny alone so that they could live their lives. However, Johnny's words were ringing in her ear. She couldn't tell anyone that she and Johnny were married.

"I told you… I don't want to talk about it…" Lulu said, gritting her teeth.

"You can tell me anything…" Carly said.

"Just leave me alone…" Lulu said, lying back down.

Carly sighed and stood up. She closed the door behind her and Sonny took her by the arm gently.

"Did she say anything?" Sonny asked, caressing his wife's arm, but she shook her head.

"No… I think we should just give her some time… she'll come around." Carly said.

* * *

Claudia sat at her desk, holding her gun in her hand. She played with the bullet clip, taking it out and then sliding it back in, and her mind began to wander… about her life before she returned to this hellhole that she called home. She was normal once… she may have even had feelings once… but after the life that she had lived, she couldn't go back to her life before.

After graduating from boarding school, Anthony made sure that Claudia never came back to the house so he enlisted the help of his younger brother, Rudy, in Milan to take her under his wing and integrate her into the family business abroad. There, Anthony could make sure that she was provided for without having the threat of Claudia taking Johnny away from him. She was barely twenty-one years old when she fell in love for the first time. He was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome; a dangerous man as well… maybe even more so than her own father.

_Lorenzo Alcazar_

A small sad smile broke across her face. He was an arms dealer whose family was from South America. He romanced her with promises that he would marry her and that they would live in his luxurious house in Venezuela. She fell in love with him quickly and so hopelessly; that can't breathe without you next to me kind of love. However, things changed when he left her to go to Port Charles after his brother Luis' death. He stopped calling and wouldn't answer when she called him. She then found out that she had become pregnant and wanted to tell him the wonderful news but she found out that the reason why he stopped calling was because he had fallen in love with someone else… a woman by the name of Carly Corinthos.

The news was devastating. She couldn't stop crying for three days straight and to add to her despair, she lost the baby soon after, leaving her as a shell of what she had been before. Her sadness quickly turned into rage, towards her former lover and towards the woman who took him from her but she couldn't act on it because of her father's intention to never bring her back to the United States. She bided her time, running Rudy's operations, secretly delighting in the news that Carly left Lorenzo… numerous times, and waiting for Anthony to be locked up so she could return home.

Then that fateful day when she heard that Alcazar was dead. She couldn't help but to feel some sort of sadness because she did love him… once… but that all changed one day in Milan. She was sitting at her uncle's desk, curling her long black hair in her fingers, chewing a large piece of gum.

"Miss me, Zacchara?"

She looked up and saw Lorenzo standing in front of her. He hadn't changed much since she last saw him four years before. His hair was shorter than she remembered and he was starting to grow a beard. She stood up and walked over to him without saying a word. She folded her arms and stared at him for a while. She often wondered if she would even see him again and what she would say to him. A cruel smile curved across her face and she slapped him clear across his face. He rubbed the spot where she had hit him and laughed.

"You're supposed to be dead…" she said.

"And here I am…" he said.

"What do you want?" she asked, walking back to her desk.

"I have a business proposition for you…" he said.

That was how she got suckered into this deal with Alcazar. He wanted revenge on Sonny for taking everything that was important to him… Diego, his newfound son, had died by Sam McCall's hand, and of course there was the subject of Carly. He didn't need to say it but this was all about Carly choosing Sonny over him. But it didn't matter to her anymore, she wasn't hoping that he had come back for her… she had shut off all of her feelings and was only about the business… and when Lorenzo told her that she would have to go to Port Charles, she jumped at the opportunity. She could finally return to that house, see her little brother again, and take what was rightfully hers.

She was jolted awake from her stroll down memory lane by the phone. She flipped open the phone and pressed it against her ear.

"Zacchara," she said.

"Good news… Lulu's back in Port Charles…"

She rolled her eyes at the sound of his voice. She couldn't wait for this to all be over so she didn't have to hear him ever again.

"Until Sonny and Carly decide to ship her out of town again…" Claudia said.

"Which means that this is the perfect time to strike…" Lorenzo said. Claudia opened her mouth to say something but heard the front door open and slam shut.

"I will take care of Lulu…" she hissed.

"You're going to do what?" a voice behind her asked.

She whirled around and saw Johnny standing there, with a travel bag in one hand and his cell phone in the other. Claudia quickly hung up the phone and hugged her brother warmly.

"Hey you! You're back from Italy sooner than I expected! Welcome back!" she said but Johnny pulled away from her.

"What do you mean by you'll take care of Lulu?" he asked and Claudia folded her arms and tilted her head in a questioning fashion.

"Why do you care?" she asked.

"I don't… I just don't want to see you get carted off to jail…" he lied, tossing his bag aside.

"Alright… well I have a meeting… will you be here later? We can have dinner or something…" she said.

"Whatever," he muttered, walking over to the desk.

Claudia nodded sadly and turned around. She couldn't blame him for being angry with her. She didn't fight for him when he was younger and she would be sorry for that for the rest of her life. She closed the door behind her as she exited the study. She then could hear Johnny open the piano and begin to play Moonlight Sonata. Claudia felt a tear roll down her cheek. He only played Moonlight Sonata when something was bothering him and she would've given anything to take away her brother's pain.

* * *

Things were quiet at the Corinthos mansion and Carly was getting worried. Lulu seemed to be becoming more withdrawn as the days rolled by. It had been a week since Jason retrieved her from Italy but she didn't come back the same person. She barely spoke to her and she wouldn't even acknowledge Sonny. She would only spend time with Michael and Morgan if they asked her to play with them. Otherwise, she would hole up in her room and only come out to eat and to go to the occasional class. Carly couldn't take this anymore. She picked up the phone and called Georgie Jones, Lulu's best friend, to come and talk to her.

"Lu?" Carly asked, knocking softly on Lulu's bedroom door but there was no answer.

"Georgie is here to see you," Carly said.

Lulu opened the door slowly and showed Georgie in. All of the lights were shut off and the curtains were closed. It was like she was in mourning. Georgie sat down on Lulu's bed and looked at her friend. This wasn't Lulu… not the Lulu that she knew. She wasn't the same girl who took Georgie to all of the cool 

concerts in the city, or the girl who stayed over her house until two o'clock in the morning giggling about the cute guys in their biology class… this wasn't her.

"Lulu… are you alright?" Georgie asked.

Lulu looked at Georgie and shook her head. Georgie threw her arms around her and hugged her tightly as Lulu began to cry. As hard as she tried, Lulu couldn't hold it in any longer. Georgie just rocked her back and forth, letting her get it all out.

"My life is falling apart…" Lulu whispered.

"What happened? Did something happen in Italy?" Georgie asked.

"Yes…" Lulu sobbed.

"Lulu… you can tell me… you're my best friend… I won't judge you…" Georgie said.

"I can't…" Lulu exhaled.

"Why? Because Johnny said you couldn't? Did he hurt you?" Georgie asked, putting her hands on Lulu's shoulders, but Lulu shook her head. She opened her mouth to say something but Lulu's phone began to ring. She stood up and walked to her phone slowly. She took it in her hand and flipped it open.

"Hello?" she asked, wiping her eyes.

"I've waited so long to hear the sound of your voice again…"

Lulu's eyes widened and a smile broke across her face.

"Johnny?" she cried.

"Hey," he said, chuckling.

"Oh my god… hi…" she breathed.

" I've missed you so much." He said.

"I've missed you too…" she sniffed.

"Lulu? Are—are you crying?" he asked.

"Are you back in Port Charles yet?" she asked.

"Lu… don't try to change the subject…" he said.

"I can't stand this anymore," she said.

"What are you trying to say?" he asked, the concern in his voice rising.

"I need you…" she sobbed.

She knew that she was being pathetic but she couldn't help but to say what she was feeling. She was head-over-heels for this boy and nothing could persuade her otherwise. Johnny exhaled on the other side. She knew that this was just as hard for him as it was for her.

"Lulu… we can't… not now… it's too dangerous. I just overheard my sister trying to put the plan to kill you back into motion…" he started.

"I don't care!" she cried.

"Well, I do! You are my wife! I'm supposed to protect you... no matter the cost… and if that means that I have to stay away from you…" he said.

"No…" she cried.

"It's killing me to be away from you… but what am I supposed to do if you get killed? Huh? I can't even fathom my life without you, Lulu… I have to keep you safe… no matter how much I want to be with you right now." He said and she sighed.

"I know—I know that you're right… but I just hate it…" she said.

"I know… ok, I should go… calling you is just as risky but I just wanted to hear your voice…" he said.

"Will you call me soon?" she asked.

"Of course…" he said.

"Ok… I—I love you…" she said.

"I love you too," he said.

She snapped her cell phone shut and clasped her hands together and exhaled slowly. She felt Georgie's hands on her shoulders. Lulu smiled sadly and was grateful that her friend was with her at that moment.

"I don't know what I would do if I couldn't see Spinelli… I'm so sorry, Lulu…" Georgie whispered.

Lulu opened her eyes and turned around to face her. Georgie squinted her eyes and saw a flicker of that spark that made Lulu… well, Lulu. She immediately went to her desk and grabbed her purse but Georgie caught her arm as she rushed past her.

"Hey… where are you going?" Georgie asked.

"I have to go… please… don't tell anyone…" Lulu said. Georgie sighed and nodded. Lulu smiled and hugged her. She swept her coat off the floor and headed out of the room.

* * *

Johnny hated this house. He hated everything about this house: the red walls, the dark wood, and the gothic antique vases that his father treasured… everything. The house was technically in his name now since his father was locked up. He often thought about tearing the house down, brick by brick and building an entirely new house, something with lots of windows, a pool, and a patio where he and Lulu could sit and watch the sun go down. All he wanted was a house free from ghosts; a house that he could build a home with Lulu with.

He sat at the piano and began playing his favorite song: Clair de Lune. It reminded him of Lulu so much. It was soft, elegant, and a little bit mysterious. He wanted to play for her one day, maybe even teach her. He imagined her sitting on his lap, with her delicate fingers on the keys, his chin resting on her shoulder. A tap at the terrace door roused him from his daydreams. He turned around and saw Lulu sitting on his desk. She was wearing one of those wrap dresses and was sitting with her legs crossed, exposing most of her legs to him. She had a look in her eye that was enticing him to come closer. He blinked repeatedly, thinking that he was imagining her sitting there.

"You play beautifully," she said, standing up and walking towards him.

"What are you doing here?" he hissed.

"I told you… I can't stand being away from you." Lulu whispered, inching towards him.

"You're lucky that Claudia isn't here… if she found you…" he started.

"Relax… I just wanted to give you this…" she said, pulling some papers out of her purse.

His brow folded into a confused expression and he took the papers in his hand. He read them and then sighed heavily.

"What the hell are these?" he asked.

"You know that our marriage isn't legal in the United States… hence the marriage license." She said, folding her arms.

"You came all the way over here to give me a piece of paper making our marriage legal? You risked your life for something so goddamn trivial?" he yelled, tossing the papers aside. She was taken aback by his tone.

"I—I thought…" she started.

"What? You thought that with a couple of signatures everything would be ok? That we could have the perfect life with the house, the white picket fence, and the golden retriever without having to deal with our families trying to kill each other?" he asked.

"I should go…" she said, gathering her belongings.

She tried to leave but he caught her arm in his hand. His eyes never left hers and he tilted her chin up towards him. Her gaze was intense and passion was simmering behind her eyes. Her lips parted and she exhaled shakily against his face. His grip on her arm loosened. He closed his eyes as her hands slid up his chest. He knew that this was wrong but he couldn't help himself. He cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her slow. He then backed her against the dark mahogany desk and he swiftly picked her up and set her on the top. Her hands roamed down his chest, hastily unbuttoning his shirt. This was nothing like how they had been together before. What had been carefully and beautifully drawn out before was now a frenzied and desperate need to be with each other. He shoved every last item off his desk and into a heap on the floor. She quickly undid the button and zipper of his jeans as he stepped in between her legs. He moved from her lips to her neck and his hands untied her dress, gaining access to her bare skin. She gasped and brought him closer, placing her lips near his ear.

"I need you… now…" she whispered.

She barely got the words out before he captured her mouth in another kiss. His kiss was so powerful and commanding but loving at the same time. She seemed to crumble in his arms, letting him do what he wanted with her. He held her close and entered her sharply, making her arch her back and cry out. He pressed his lips against hers, making sure that none of the guards would hear them and walk in. The more he touched, the more he found himself wanting more of her. The motion of their bodies was synchronized with their breath, until he felt her grip on his arms tighten and knew that she was on the verge of screaming. He went first and she soon followed, collapsing onto the desk, their hearts beating feverishly against each other's skin. Their heart rates quickly returned to normal and he tried to stand up and let go but Lulu clung to him.

"No… don't ever let me go…" she whimpered, burying her face into his chest.

He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. She felt like a small and helpless child in his arms. He couldn't bear to hear her like this, it was breaking his heart. He kissed her shoulder as she held onto him. He hated what staying away from each other was doing to her. He kissed the top of her head and sighed.

"Lulu…" he started.

"This isn't fair…" she said.

"I know…" he said, squeezing her tightly in his arms.

"I'm your wife… we shouldn't have to meet in secret like we're doing something wrong…" she said softly. He took her hand in his and noticed that she was wearing her rings. He couldn't help but to smile at her defiance. He kissed her hand tenderly and placed it on his cheek. He loved her so much.

"I know… I know…" he sighed, curling a piece of hair around her ear.

"Are you mad at me?" she asked, looking up at him.

"I could never be mad at you…" he said before kissing her again.

They both slid off the desk and began straightening out their clothes. Lulu bent down and picked up the marriage license off the floor and Johnny extended his hand out towards her. He took a pen out of the desk drawer and signed in all of the appropriate places. He smiled and handed the paper back to her.

"You know… this paper doesn't really mean anything… because I am already married to you in every way that counts…" he said.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and she let him hold her for a moment. She knew that she should go. One of the guards could've heard them or Claudia could walk into the room at anytime but she didn't care. She just wanted to feel Johnny's arms around her.

* * *

Claudia pulled her red Audi A6 into the driveway of the Zacchara mansion and immediately went into the house. She tossed her black overcoat to one of the guards and ordered him to put it in the closet and she made her way to the study. She went to reach for the handle when she heard an unfamiliar voice talking with Johnny. She withdrew her hand and listened in closely.

"You should go… before Claudia gets back…"

"I don't want to leave you…"

"I know… and I don't want you to go but it's the only way that I know that you're safe…"

"Johnny…"

"Please don't argue with me, Lulu…"

Claudia's eyes widened_. Lulu Spencer-Corinthos?_ She couldn't believe her ears. What the hell was the Corinthos girl doing in her house, let alone with her brother? She gritted her teeth as she heard the terrace door open and close. Lulu was probably sneaking around the back where there was only one guard posted. Claudia waited for a few minutes before entering the study. Johnny was sitting at the desk, obviously flustered. She didn't know any better, she could've sworn that her little brother just had a quickie with Lulu.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked, tossing her bag aside. Her words clearly caught him off guard as he looked up sharply at his sister.

"Nothing's wrong with me… does something look wrong?" he asked, nonchalantly.

"You look nervous, baby brother…" she said, sitting on the desk in front of him.

"I've got no reason to be nervous," he said, standing up.

Claudia tilted her head to the side, examining her brother's face. He was definitely hiding something. It was written all over his face.

"Why was Lulu here?" she asked bluntly. The shock that washed over Johnny's face would've been funny to see if it weren't such a serious situation. She couldn't afford to have Lulu hanging around her brother and getting in the way of her plans to take over the Corinthos territory.

"She was here to tell me to stay away from her family… naïve… pretty but stupidly naïve…" he lied.

"Really?" she asked, folding her arms and not believing him for a second.

"Whatever, Claudia… if the interrogation is over, I'd like to go upstairs…" he muttered.

She watched him walk past her, not even looking her in the eye as he left the room. She shook her head and covered her mouth with her hands. She had to protect him. She had to protect him from falling in love. She knew all too well the dangers of letting your heart dictate everything. She loved her brother more than anything and would do anything to spare him that kind of pain. She sighed heavily and took out her cell phone out of her pocket.

"It's Claudia… listen… it's time… Lulu Spencer-Corinthos needs to be taken out… right now…"


	14. Collapse

**A/N:** Thank you guys for your fabulous reviews! They really make me super happy to be writing this. Most of this is just fluff, with the exception of the ending, and it's fairly short. It's mostly just a transitional chapter. As a side note, the song that Johnny sings to Lulu is "Moondance" by Van Morrison. Happy reading!

**Chapter 14 – Collapse**

Lulu strolled back into the house after she had filed the papers at city hall. The initial euphoria of officially becoming Johnny's wife was beginning to wear off, knowing that she was his wife only in name but nothing more right now. She couldn't take this for much longer.

"Lulu…"

She perked up, hearing her name being called from the living room. She walked into the room to find Sonny standing there, a glass of scotch in his hand like he usually did when he came home from his office at night. She folded her arms as she stood in front of Sonny, silently.

"You're back late…" he said.

"Am I on house arrest or something?" she spat.

"Lulu… don't start with me… after that stunt that you pulled with not going to Paris…" Sonny started.

"Yeah… yeah… yeah… I've heard it all… _it's too dangerous for you to be doing things like that_… but seriously, Sonny…. I'm not a little kid anymore… I'm not like Michael and Morgan…" she said.

"Lulu… you're smart… smarter than most girls your age… now you just have to think! Running away to Italy was not the smartest thing to do! You know what kind of situation our family is in!" he yelled.

"Johnny would never hurt me!" Lulu cried.

"You don't know that…" he said.

"I know him a lot better than you do, Sonny…" she said.

"And I know this business a lot better than you do, Lulu… Johnny Zacchara is a sociopath… just like his old man… he can and he will manipulate you…" Sonny said.

Lulu clenched her teeth, her temper simmering just below an angry outburst. He was wrong. He was so wrong about Johnny and it made her sick to her stomach to think about it. She sighed heavily, trying to let go of the anger that was building up inside, and she turned around to walk away.

"You're not to go near Johnny ever again, do you understand?" Sonny ordered.

"You can't tell me what to do and who I can see… you have no right to keep me from Johnny." she chirped back before walking out.

* * *

Claudia was standing on the terrace overlooking the rose garden. The snow was beginning to melt and soon the roses would begin to bloom again. Winter was always her favorite time of year but not because she enjoyed frolicking in the snow as a young girl but because when winter came, the roses in the garden would die. She knew it was a horrible thing to think but all Anthony cared about was Maria and her stupid roses, not about Johnny and certainly not about Claudia. However, she got along with Maria just fine and meant her no ill will when she was alive… for the most part. She actually appreciated her because she was able to keep Anthony under control and therefore kept him away from Johnny when he was in one of his fits, but there were just some things that Anthony did that were just unforgivable. Things like leaving Claudia's mother, Dominica, for Maria… she could remember how cruel Anthony was when he physically forced her out of the house and into a car that took her away. She could still hear her mother's screams and picture the woman that she wanted to be just like being carried out of the house in tears as if it happened yesterday. She couldn't and would never want to forgive him for that. That's why it gave her so much delight to see his prized roses wither. It was a small way to get back at her father.

"Snow's melting,"

She turned around and saw Johnny standing in the doorway. She smiled and held her hand out to her brother. His expression softened and he took her hand in his.

"Yeah… and the roses will be back soon." Claudia muttered.

"I loved spring here… it was when dad was most calm… he hardly had any fits…" Johnny said.

"It was because of your mom… they would take us out into the garden and we would help them work on the roses… remember?" she asked, turning to face her brother.

"Yeah… I remember…" he muttered.

"Listen… I'm sorry about yesterday… I know I've been a pain lately… but I do want us to get back to normal, John…" she said.

"It's kinda hard to get back to normal after you've been gone for so long…" he said, folding his arms.

"But I want to try…" she said.

"I know… and I'll try harder…" he said.

He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her warmly. Claudia squeezed him tightly and she felt a few tears roll down her cheeks. She loved her brother so much. Johnny was the only shred of good that she still possessed. After everything that she had been through, her need to protect her little brother was the only once of goodness left in her.

"Ok, I'm going to go into town… I have to pick up my dry cleaning…" he said, letting her go.

"Get someone else to do it…" she said.

"Claudia, they're guards… not butlers… and besides, I'm going stir-crazy being cooped up in this house. I won't be long… I promise." Johnny said.

Claudia kissed her brother on the cheek and watched him walk back into the house. She waited until he was out of earshot and pulled out her cell phone and dialed her shooter.

"Tonight… I want the Corinthos girl dead tonight and if you screw up… so help you god…" she growled before snapping her phone shut.

* * *

Lulu had to get out of that house. Sonny wouldn't stop berating Johnny and Carly was pestering her with her talks about how there shouldn't be any secrets between them and if she was hiding something, she could always tell Carly and she wouldn't judge. She just wanted some quiet, if that was too much to ask. She found a bench down on the docks and looked over the waterfront. The sun was going down and she immediately thought of being in Italy with Johnny. She twisted her ring on her finger, remembering him holding her in his arms on the terrace, watching the sun go down in Milan.

"Blonde one?"

Lulu smiled and turned around to see Spinelli. He ambled over to the bench and sat beside her.

"Why so sad, blonde one?" he asked.

"Oh… nothing… I just—I got into a fight with Sonny and had to get out of the house." Lulu said, covering her ring with her other hand.

"About the blonde one's disappearance and the ominous spawn—" he started.

"His name is Johnny, Spinelli…" Lulu said quietly, looking down at her hand.

"My apologies… the blonde one's feelings for the—I mean… for Johnny Zacchara are most evident and probably not helpful in regards to the current situation." He said.

"I love Sonny… he's my father in every way that counts… and I love my family… Carly, Michael, Morgan, Jason, Sam, Max and Milo too… they mean the world to me… but I—" she started but she realized that she had said too much.

"But you love Johnny too…" Spinelli said, finishing her phrase.

She looked up at Spinelli and was surprised when he smiled at her and put his arm around her. She smiled sadly and put her head on his shoulder. She knew that Spinelli was her best friend for a reason. He was the only person in the entire world who never judged her. She remembered when she found out that had Logan cheated on her with Maxie Jones. Lulu showed up to Spinelli's penthouse, her eyes bloodshot from crying and he never said any words resembling "I told you so". That's just how he was. He gladly invited her in to cry on his shoulder and she ended staying the night. No matter how bad things got, he was always there for her.

"The blonde one possesses one of the most generous and loving hearts that the Jackal has ever seen." He said and Lulu smiled.

"The blonde one is glad that the Jackal is her best friend." She said, looking up at him.

Suddenly, her phone began to ring. She stood up and took her phone out of her pocket and she smiled as she saw Johnny's name appear on her caller ID.

"I was just thinking about you," she said.

"I managed to get out of the house for a while… where are you?" Johnny asked.

"I'm down by the waterfront…" Lulu said.

"Ok, I'm not too far away… I'll see you in five…" he said.

"Sounds good…" she said.

"I love you," he said and she could feel herself smiling.

"I love you too," she said before closing her phone.

She turned to Spinelli, who was sitting with his arms folded. She sat back down on the bench and exhaled deeply.

"If you think that I won't tell Stone Cold…" he started.

"If Jason doesn't ask… you don't have to tell, right?" she asked.

"I'm not making any promises… if I hear anything about you being in trouble… I'm telling." He said, standing up.

"Fine… I guess that's fair." She said.

She stood up and hugged him goodbye. He walked up the stairs and disappeared down the main street towards Kelly's. She turned back to the water, listening to the waves crashing against the docks. It gave her a sense of tranquility in this horrible situation that she was in. She heard footsteps behind her and she turned around. Johnny was standing right behind her, smiling.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked.

"Long enough to notice that you look like an angel when the light hits your face…" he said, taking her into his arms.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. She didn't care if anyone saw them; she just missed him so much. She missed the feeling of being in his arms and the way that he smelled. He pulled away from her lips and just held her close, inhaling the sweet smell of her hair. He couldn't stand to be away from her for another minute and this one small moment was all he needed.

"I wish we didn't have to do all of this sneaking around…" he said.

"Let's just go…" she said.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Let's just take your car and drive…" she said, before kissing him again.

"You know we can't…" he muttered in between kisses and she sighed heavily and rested her head on his chest.

"I know… it just sucks… this entire situation sucks." Lulu whispered.

"We should get out of here… someone might catch us…" he said, lifting her chin up.

"Sonny's warehouse isn't far from here… no one should be there right now." She said.

She took him by the hand and they walked down towards the warehouse district. She pushed the heavy door aside and walked into the spacious warehouse. He pulled her close to him and she pressed her cheek against his neck as they started to dance slowly in the empty building. She closed her eyes and followed his lead. She exhaled contently and snuggled into his chest. She then began to hear Johnny say something… but then she realized that he wasn't talking… but _singing_.

"Well it's a marvelous night for a moondance…with the stars up above in your eyes… a fantabulous night to make romance 'neath the cover of October skies and all the leaves on the trees are falling to the sound of the breezes that blow… and I'm trying to please to the calling of your heart-strings that play soft and low…" he sang softly.

Her grip on his arm tightened slightly. His voice was low and intoxicating. It gave her chills. She lifted her head and smiled at him.

"I didn't know you sang…" she said.

"I'm that bad, aren't I?" he laughed.

"No… I've just never heard you sing before…" she said, giggling.

"You know the night's magic seems to whisper and hush… and all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush… can I just have one more moondance with you, my love? Can I just make some more romance with you, my love?" he continued.

She was in her own Hollywood fairytale movie: dancing with the man that she loved as he sang softly in her ear. All of those actresses had nothing on her because Lulu had the real thing. It was amazing how Johnny could take her in his arms and make the entire outside world disappear. He was just amazing like that. She giggled as Johnny nuzzled her neck. She opened her eyes and looked up to the rafters and saw a shadowy figure. She started to scream but it was too late. The shot had already been fired and she felt herself falling to the floor. She heard the shooter leave quickly and she was surprised that she didn't feel any pain. She sat up and looked beside her. Her eyes began to burn from the tears and she began to scream uncontrollably. Johnny was lying next to her… completely motionless.


	15. Can't Survive Without You

**Chapter 15 – Can't Survive Without You**

The ER was crowded that night. Apparently there had been a massive car accident on the main highway and ambulances were pulling up to General Hospital every ten seconds it seemed. Everyone was screaming and crying, frantically running about the ER, looking for injured family members.

Everyone except for Lulu Spencer-Corinthos.

She was surprisingly calm. However, it was only so because she wouldn't allow herself to utter a scream or to shed a tear. She knew if she started, she wouldn't be able to stop.

"One… two… three… breathe… one… two… three… breathe…" she muttered under her breath.

She closed her eyes and continued counting. She had to keep her mind on something in order to keep her sanity in check and she wouldn't think about her husband in surgery with a bullet in his head. She found if she stopped counting, she would stop breathing, and if she stopped breathing, she would come to the realization that she couldn't live without Johnny. She looked down at her hand, at the beautiful ring that he had given her.

_You made me fall in love with life again… you made me want a lifetime and I've come to realize that I want a lifetime… with you and only you…_

His words on their wedding day brought the unwanted tears to Lulu's eyes. She clasped her hands together, shut her eyes tightly and went back to her breathing chant. She wasn't going to break down… she had to be strong for Johnny… she wouldn't let herself break… not now.

"One… two… three… breathe… one… two… three… breathe…" she whispered.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She gasped and whirled around to see Carly and Sonny standing behind her.

"Lulu… we heard—Johnny's shooting is all over the news… are you alright? Were you hurt? Did you get checked out by a doctor?" Carly asked.

"Leave me alone," Lulu said, turning away from them.

"Lulu… please, come home with us… you have to be exhausted and Patrick probably won't be done for a few hours… these procedures take a lot of time…" Sonny said.

"And I'm going to stay right here until Patrick is done." Lulu said.

"Lulu… please, just come home with us… you can get a few hours of sleep and something to eat… you're not going to help anyone by running yourself ragged here." Sonny said.

"I'm not going anywhere with you! For all I know, you could've been the one who had Johnny shot!" Lulu screamed.

"Lulu, that's not fair! You know that Sonny would never kill Johnny!" Carly said.

"You don't know that! Get out! Both of you! Just leave me alone!!" Lulu screamed.

She tried to go back to her breathing exercises but it was too late. She had already lost it. She doubled over, clutching her stomach, and sobbed. She couldn't lose Johnny. She wouldn't know how to go on living her life without ever seeing his beautiful face again. Carly tried to stand her up but she swatted her hands away. She didn't want to have any one touch her but her husband. She just wanted him and only him. She heard the doors of the ER open and Patrick Drake walk out of surgery and towards a nurse.

"Do we have a next of kin on file for John Zacchara?" Patrick asked.

"Um… yes… Claudia Zacchara… his sister." Nadine said, flipping through the stack of papers she was holding.

"Ok, please call her and have her come down…" Patrick said. He turned around to walk back into surgery but was stopped by Lulu Spencer-Corinthos. He could tell that she was exhausted and probably had been sitting in the waiting room through the eight hour surgery.

"Dr. Drake… what's—is Johnny alright?" Lulu asked, wiping her eyes.

"I can't say anything because you're not family… but we're doing everything we can…" he said.

"I am family… I'm Johnny's wife and his next of kin..." she said. Patrick looked to Lulu and then to her stunned parents and back to Lulu again.

"Lulu… I know that you care about Johnny and you want to see him but—" Carly started.

"But what? Do you think that I'm lying? Why would I lie about being Johnny's wife?" Lulu cried as she whirled around on her parents.

"You're obviously upset… let's just go home…" Sonny started.

"Yes… I'm very upset because my husband was shot in my arms… _in my arms_, Sonny… and if you think I'm going to leave him, you are gravely mistaken." Lulu cried.

"Listen… I don't know about all of the politics in organized crime but this is a hospital and in here, I get to make the call… Lulu, follow me… I'll take you to Johnny's room." Patrick said.

* * *

Claudia tossed aside her copy of the New York Times and picked up the latest issue of Cosmopolitan. She flipped through the trivial articles about moisturizers and workout regimens and went straight to the upcoming spring layout. She hated the pastels that always came in spring. She had never been a fan of dusty pinks, light blues, fluffy yellows, and pale greens. She remembered getting stuck in a stupid frilly pastel colored dress every year for Easter by Maria until she was sent away and vowed to never wear anything of the sort ever again. It was probably why she only wore dark colors now.

"Ralph Lauren… boring… Burberry… yawn… Marc Jacobs… ugh, too loud… Chanel… yes! Gorgeous dress… oh, I have to go into Manhattan and buy this… this is absolutely exquisite." Claudia said, marking the page.

Suddenly, the phone rang. She rolled her eyes and picked up the phone.

"Claudia Zacchara…" she said.

"Miss Zacchara? This is Nadine Cromwell calling from General Hospital." The other woman on the line said.

"Ok… what do you want?" Claudia asked.

"There's been an incident and you need to come down to General Hospital right away." Nadine said.

"What's wrong? What the hell happened?" Claudia yelled.

"It's your brother, John…" Nadine said slowly. Claudia's heart stopped and she felt the phone slip out of her fingers and hit the floor and shatter.

* * *

Patrick led Lulu out of the ER and down a long hallway into the ICU unit. It was considerably quieter in the ICU but probably just because everyone who was in the ICU knew just how serious the situations that their loved ones were in. Patrick stopped in front of a room and pulled out his clipboard. Lulu went to the window and saw the nurses hovering over what she assumed to be Johnny's body.

"The good news is that we were able to remove the bullet from John's head." Patrick started.

"And the bad news?" Lulu asked, never taking her eyes off Johnny. There was always bad news.

"We're going to have to run some more tests to confirm but all signs indicate that Johnny has slipped into a coma." Patrick said slowly.

Lulu covered her mouth with her hands and turned to Patrick. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The tears came to her eyes and spilled down her face. Johnny… _her Johnny was in a coma_. She went back to the window and pressed her hand to the window, reaching for him through the glass. This wasn't fair. They weren't hurting anyone by being together… it wasn't wrong for them to fall in love and yet, there was Johnny laying in the ICU with a bullet hole in his head that most likely her own father had sent.

"Of course, nothing is for certain… we won't know anything until we do the tests… but I just—I just thought you might want to know." Patrick said and she nodded.

"Can I see him?" she asked.

"Yes… of course…" he said, showing her to the door.

She swallowed hard as her hand came to the doorknob. She closed her eyes and pushed it open. The room was dark and the nurses quietly excused themselves from the room to let her have her time with Johnny. She walked over to the bed slowly and pulled up a chair to his bedside. She ran her fingers through his short dark brown hair and over the pristine white bandage wrapped around his forehead. Johnny's heart monitor was beeping steadily and Lulu sighed heavily, taking his hand in hers.

"This is not how it's supposed to happen, Johnny…" she said.

She brought his fingertips to her face and put her cheek in the palm of his hand. He was so still and so pale. He couldn't breathe on his own and had to have a breathing tube inserted into his throat. He was such a lively man, filled with energy and passion, and to see him confined to a bed was killing her.

"Excuse me,"

Lulu turned around to see Nadine standing in the doorway. She walked over to Lulu and handed her a bag of Johnny's personal items.

"I thought that you might want his belongings… I noticed that he was wearing a wedding ring and I thought that you might want to hold onto it." Nadine said. Lulu wiped her eyes and nodded. She forced a smile as she took the bag.

"For what it's worth… I'm really sorry about Johnny… I know what it's like to lose the person that you love…" Nadine started.

"Johnny isn't dead and he's not going to die…" Lulu growled at the nurse.

"I'm sorry…" Nadine said, excusing herself from the room.

"You are not leaving me, Johnny… do you hear me? Not now… and not ever." she said, turning her focus back to him.

She grasped his hand tighter and pressed her lips to the top of his hand. She never believed in those stories about people bringing their loved ones back from comas with "the power of love". That kind of thing only applied to Sonny and Carly or her real parents. But as she was holding Johnny's hand, she realized that she needed to believe in it or else she would have to think about the possibility that Johnny might never wake up. Tears came to her eyes at this realization and she bent over and cried. She wished with all of her might that Johnny would hear her and wake up and flash one of his charming smiles and tell her that everything would be ok.

"What do I have to do to bring you back to me?" she whispered, running her fingers down his cheek.

His silence broke her heart. He was just lying there, so still. He didn't even look like he was sleeping… and it scared her. She wouldn't even think of the possibility that this was it. She couldn't even begin to fathom her life without him. She wiped her face and reached into the bag that Nadine had given her and rummaged through it. Her fingers hit his wedding band at the bottom of the bag and she pulled it out of the bag. She took his hand in hers and slid the ring onto his finger.

"Do you feel that?" she asked, clutching his hand. She moved his other hand to her own hand, placing his fingertips on top of her engagement ring.

"What about that?" she cried, squeezing his hand and with tears streaming down her face. More than anything, she wanted him to open his eyes and tell her that she was dumb to be wearing her engagement ring when she wasn't supposed to… like she knew that he would say… just so she could hear his voice.

"I know that you're in there somewhere, Johnny… I know—I know that you can hear me… so please… open your eyes and come back to me… I can't—I can't do this without you… please…" she begged.

She stood up and bent over him, her lips grazing over his forehead. She leaned into kiss him and she watched as one of her tear drops landed on his cheek. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him slowly. She wanted him to feel her and she wanted to feel him but he couldn't. He was too far away. Her lips trembled and with a sharp cry, she broke away from his motionless lips, covering her mouth with her hands. She couldn't bring him back. Her hands were shaking and she was crumbling into a million pieces. She managed to tone down her sobs and she crawled into Johnny's bed, wrapping her arms around his torso and laying her tearstained cheek on his chest.

* * *

Georgie got a frantic call from Spinelli, telling her that Johnny had been shot and that Lulu was at the hospital and she was "most distressed". Georgie quickly called her sister to cover for her shift at Kelly's and headed down to the hospital.

"Robin… have you seen Lulu?" Georgie asked the petite brunette standing at the nurse's station. Robin Scorpio-Drake looked up from her charts and smiled at her young cousin.

"I think Patrick took her down to the ICU to see Johnny… his room is right down that hall…" Robin said, pointing towards a hallway. Georgie thanked her cousin and ran down the hall that Robin had pointed out. Sure enough, Spinelli was standing outside of Johnny's room.

"Georgie," he said, throwing his arms around her.

The gesture caught her off guard and she staggered. He let her go and she immediately went to the window. Lulu was curled up next to Johnny in his hospital bed. He had a bandage wrapped around his forehead, pushing his dark brown hair back and he was lying very still. Lulu was clinging to him as if she was afraid that he would vanish into thin air.

"How bad is it?" she asked, turning to Spinelli.

"The doctors are certain that the young Zacchara has slipped into a coma." he said softly and she gasped and covered her mouth.

"Oh my god, Lulu… was she there when it happened?" she asked.

"The shooter shot the young Zacchara in the blonde one's arms…" he said.

Georgie's heart broke for her friend. No one deserved to go through what Lulu was going through, Georgie thought. She couldn't even imagine what was going through Lulu's mind right now… wondering if the man that she loved would ever open his eyes again. Suddenly, Sam came towards the two of them, carrying a duffel bag.

"Hey… I'm glad that you two are here… Carly and Sonny asked me to bring some clothes down here for Lulu… she was pretty upset with the two of them and they didn't want to upset her even more so they sent me down here with some of her things…" Sam said, holding up the bag.

"Here, I'll take it… I'll give it to her," Georgie said, taking Lulu's clothes.

"How's she holding up?" Sam asked, putting her hands into her pockets.

"How would you feel if Stone Cold was shot in your arms?" Spinelli asked, softly.

"When I got shot, Jason was a wreck and I know that I would be the same way if anything happened to him… Lulu must be going through hell…" Sam said, walking towards the window.

"I'm going to go in and see her…" Georgie said.

"Alright… please tell her to call me or Jason if she needs anything…" Sam said and both Spinelli and Georgie nodded.

Sam turned around and walked away as Georgie pushed the door to Johnny's room open. The room was fairly dark and she could only hear the steady beeping of Johnny's heart monitor and Lulu's muffled sobs. She set the duffel bag at the foot of Johnny's bed and walked around to Lulu and put her hand on her back.

"Lu," Georgie whispered, gently rubbing her back.

"I can't—I can't bring him back…" Lulu sobbed.

"No one's blaming you for that, Lulu…" Georgie said.

"I was selfish… I asked him… I begged him to—" Lulu started.

"This wasn't your fault…" Georgie said, wrapping her arms around her friend.

"Georgie, stop it!" Lulu screamed, pushing her off of her. Lulu turned around to Georgie, looking her right in the eye. She was unusually pale and her eyes were bloodshot from crying for almost nine hours. She looked absolutely exhausted.

"You don't get it! None of you get it! Johnny loves me… he loves me, Georgie and I love him… I love him with all of my heart…" Lulu cried.

"Oh, Lu…" Georgie said, putting her hand on top of Lulu's.

"Johnny is my life… he means everything to me, Georgie… I am nothing without him! I can't—I can't imagine my life without him!" Lulu sobbed.

Tears sprang to Georgie's eyes and she covered her mouth with her hands. She had never seen Lulu like this before. Suddenly, Lulu's eyes fluttered and she collapsed but luckily, Georgie caught her. Georgie helped her into the chair and fanned her until her eyes opened again.

"What—what happened?" Lulu asked, looking around her.

"You fainted." Georgie said as she pressed her hand to Lulu's forehead to feel for a fever. She then moved down to check her pulse, which was racing.

"I—I fainted?" Lulu asked, clearly out of breath.

"Lulu… how do you feel?" Georgie asked.

"The entire room is spinning… and I'm feeling a little bit nauseous… but I'm sure it's just stress… I'll be fine…" Lulu muttered, closing her eyes. If Lulu had opened her eyes, she would've seen Georgie's eyes widen.

"It's not stress…" Georgie said.

"What do you mean it's not stress?" Lulu asked.

"Lulu… I think that you're pregnant…" Georgie said.


	16. Maybe Baby?

**A/N:** Sorry about the long wait… I've been swamped with exams and I had a horrible case of writer's block with this chapter because it's mostly transitional. Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews and now that I'm done with school, chapters should be getting up faster! Happy reading!

**Chapter 16 – Maybe… Baby?**

Lulu's hands immediately went to her stomach upon hearing Georgie's words. _Pregnant_? She couldn't be pregnant… there was no way… she covered her mouth with her hands as her mind began to race. The word just repeated over and over again in her head.

"Lulu… is it even possible that you are pregnant?" Georgie asked.

"I'm not pregnant, Georgie… I can't be…" Lulu whispered.

"Well, when you and Johnny were in Italy… did you—you know…" Georgie asked.

Lulu thought and fear immediately rushed to her eyes. She had gone off birth control a month after Logan had left town and she felt that she had no reason to keep taking the pills. She hadn't dated anyone since he left and she definitely hadn't slept with anyone since.

And Johnny was the last thing she expected.

She knew it was completely cliché to say that they had a whirlwind relationship, but it was and as horrible as it might have sounded, the last thing that was on her mind while falling head over heels for Johnny Zacchara was to get back on the pill… and she was 95 sure that Johnny didn't use anything during any of the times that they were together.

"Oh my god, Georgie…" Lulu whispered, grasping her friend's hand.

"It's ok… we'll go find a doctor and get a test…" Georgie said softly.

Georgie immediately darted into the hall to find a doctor. Lulu turned back to Johnny as he was lying in his hospital bed. She reached over and touched his face gently, smoothing over his chiseled features. She was so scared. She was so afraid to lose him and contemplating bringing another life into this world considering the situation was frightening. She could feel her breath freezing in her throat.

"Lulu!"

Lulu turned back to the door and saw Georgie beckoning her to her. Lulu turned back to Johnny. She didn't want to leave him but knew that she had to. She rose to her feet and pressed her lips to his cheek, softly kissing him.

"I'll be right back, Johnny… I promise…" she whispered.

She wiped a glimmer of a tear from her eye, stood up and walked towards Georgie. She immediately came face-to-face with Dr. Kelly Lee, the resident OBGYN. She smiled at Lulu warmly, probably aware that Lulu was nervous. Georgie closed the door to Johnny's room behind her.

"Hi, Lulu… Georgie tells me that you want to get checked out…" Dr. Lee said, shaking Lulu's hand.

"Yes… I really need to know if I'm pregnant." Lulu said.

* * *

Claudia stormed into General Hospital, her anger seething. How could her shooter have been so stupid to take a shot with her brother in clear range? Claudia made sure that the shooter never had the chance to make that mistake again and she made sure that she got rid of all of the evidence as well. She immediately made a b-line for the nurses' station.

"Where's my brother… John Zacchara?" Claudia demanded.

A larger woman looked up from her computer and immediately shot Claudia an angry look. She was clearly not amused with Claudia's hostile tone.

"What is your name?" Epiphany asked, grabbing a nearby clipboard.

"Claudia Zacchara… I'm John's sister…" Claudia said.

"Let me see if your name is on this list…" Epiphany muttered but Claudia ripped the clipboard out of her hand and threw it across the room, sending the entire floor into a state of shocked silence.

"Oh, don't give me that crap! John is my brother! I should be the first person on that goddamn list!" Claudia screamed.

"Watch your temper, Zacchara…"

Claudia whirled around and saw Sonny standing before her. His arms were crossed across his chest and his eyes were narrowed on her. He bent over and picked up the clipboard. He walked over to the nurses' station and handed it back to Epiphany.

"Don't take this out on Nurse Johnson…" Sonny said.

"You have no right to say that to me… you're the one who probably shot my brother!" Claudia screamed. Sonny didn't even blink but rather just sighed heavily. He could probably tell that she knew that he didn't shoot Johnny.

"I would suggest that you apologize to Nurse Johnson and maybe she'll allow you to see your brother," he said coolly.

"I… apologize, Nurse Johnson… I'm just anxious to see my brother, that's all…" Claudia growled through her gritted teeth.

"Follow me," Epiphany said as she began walking down the ICU corridor. Before following her down the hall, Claudia turned to Sonny.

"If I find out that you had anything to do with my brother's shooting… I will come after you…" Claudia hissed.

"As much as I would love to take the credit for taking your brother out of commission… this has you written all over it. If I didn't know any better, I think that you were trying to kill my daughter and instead your brother got in the way…" Sonny said.

"You have no proof," she hissed but before she could walk away, Sonny grabbed her arm and yanked her close.

"Now it's my turn to warn you, Claudia… if I hear anything about you coming anywhere near my family… if you so much as look at any of my family wrong… it will be the last thing you will ever do… because you see, I don't make mistakes when I want people dead." he said.

Claudia snatched her arm from his grasp and said nothing in reply to Sonny's thread. Instead, she turned on her heel and followed Epiphany down the hallway. They stopped in front of a darkened room in the ICU and Epiphany opened the door to let Claudia in. She was unprepared for what she saw: her precious baby brother, hooked up to a half a dozen machines and with a breathing tube in his throat. Claudia covered her mouth with her hands and tried to suppress a sob. This wasn't supposed to happen. Johnny wasn't supposed to be with Lulu when she dispatched her shooter. She walked over to her brother's bedside, her hands shaking as she reached out to touch his face. He was so pale and still.

_It scared her._

She promised Johnny that she would always be there to protect him. When Maria put him into her arms for the first time, Claudia promised him that nothing bad would ever come to hurt him. She kissed his forehead gently and began to cry.

"I'm so sorry, John…" she whispered, running her fingers through his cropped hair.

This shouldn't have happened. Her brother didn't deserve to be lying in a hospital bed with a breathing tube in his throat. He still had a chance… a chance to do or be whatever she wanted to be. He had the world at his feet and to subject him to a life confided to a bed was just cruel irony.

"I would do anything to change this, John… I swear… If I had known—if I had only known that you were with Lulu when I put out that hit…" she started before her voice broke. She exhaled heavily and smoothed her hand over the creases in his forehead. She felt herself sink down, resting her head on his hand. Her brother didn't deserve to know the awful truth that she already knew.

_Love kills_.

* * *

Lulu closed her eyes and held her hands at her side as Dr. Lee performed her exam. Her fingers twitched anxiously and her heart began to race. Georgie sensed her friend's nerves and came up to the exam table and held Lulu's hand.

_Pregnant._

The word played like a broken record in Lulu's mind. She never thought that she wanted to be a mother. The way that Luke, Laura, and Lucky disappeared left a bitter taste about family in her mouth. She had her parents and then all of a sudden, they were gone. Her resentment towards her biological parents had died down over the years and she started to think of herself more as a part of the Corinthos family rather than the Spencer family even though she was still very close to her Aunt Bobbie. However, she vowed to never to have children so that no mistakes that she made to affect an innocent child. She could never do to a child what her parents had done to her.

However, everything was different now. When the idea became a very real possibility… the possibility of having Johnny's child, a different picture came to mind… She thought of Johnny talking and singing to her stomach at night as the baby grew, Johnny holding their baby in his arms, soccer practices, dance recitals, birthday parties… it was the most beautiful picture that she could've ever imagined.

"Ok, I'm done…" Kelly said, taking off her gloves.

"So? Am I pregnant?" Lulu asked, sitting up.

Georgie squeezed her hand as they both waited for a response from the doctor. Kelly looked up from her clipboard and smiled warmly at the two girls.

"You are pregnant, Lulu… about two and a half weeks along. Are congratulations in order? " Kelly asked.

A smile spread across Lulu's face. She squeezed Georgie's hand and began to laugh. Georgie wrapped her arms around Lulu and hugged her warmly. It was real. She was carrying Johnny's child. Her hands instinctually went to her stomach and she rubbed it gently.

"Yes… they are…" Lulu said.

"Well, congratulations… I would like to schedule some regular routine check-ups and prescribe you some prenatal vitamins." Kelly said, scribbling on her clipboard.

"Yes… of course…" Lulu said, sliding off the table.

"Alright… just make sure you stop by the nurses' station before you leave and schedule an appointment with Epiphany." Kelly said before she walked out of the room.

"Lu…" Georgie started.

"Georgie… can you believe this?" Lulu asked, smiling.

"You're—you're ok with this? A baby?" Georgie asked.

"It was the first time… in Italy…" Lulu muttered.

"What?" Georgie asked.

"Two and a half weeks ago… that was the first time that Johnny and I made love." Lulu said, a smile creeping across her face.

"How do you think Johnny will react to this?" Georgie asked, softly.

Lulu started to say something but she lost her words. Her face fell and she looked down at her flat stomach. Georgie put her hands on Lulu's shoulders and she watched at one single tear rolled down Lulu's cheek.

"What's wrong? I thought that you were excited." Georgie said.

"It's—I just realized… Johnny may never wake up to hold his child…" Lulu said softly.

"Lulu… it's still too soon to tell… even Patrick isn't sure when Johnny is going to wake up."Georgie said softly.

"Georgie… I can't do this on my own…" Lulu whispered.

"You aren't alone… you have me… and Spinelli, and Jason, and Sam, and Sonny and Carly… you have so many people who love you…" Georgie said.

"How am I supposed to tell Sonny and Jason that I'm pregnant with Johnny Zacchara's child?" Lulu asked.

* * *

Claudia sat there talking to her little brother for what seemed like hours. They never had the chance to reminisce about when they were kids since she returned to Crimson Pointe. She laughed about the three-legged frog that Johnny brought home one day when he was six years old and how it scared Anthony so much that he screamed so loudly that they both agreed that he sounded like a girl and they couldn't stop laughing for two days after that. She wished she could go back to those times… maybe she wouldn't be so cruel and calloused if she hadn't been broken down by Lorenzo Alcazar. She might've been happy… living abroad, going to Paris for Fashion week, maybe even having her own boutique in Milan… but she was trapped… too much had happened and now she couldn't get out. Johnny was different. He hadn't made a mess of his life yet. He still had a chance to do whatever he wanted and she didn't want this life for him. She didn't want him to turn into their father.

"Excuse me,"

Claudia lifted her head and turned towards the voice. A small blonde girl was standing in the doorway. Claudia knew that she wasn't a nurse because she wasn't wearing any scrubs. The girl walked towards Claudia and the light began to hit her face. It was Lulu Spencer-Corinthos.

"You…" Claudia seethed.

"How's he doing?" Lulu asked, softly.

"You have no right to be here, Corinthos…" Claudia growled.

"I—I didn't mean to upset you… I just wanted to know how he was… I'll come back later after you're done here…" Lulu said.

"No, you won't… you are never to come anywhere near my brother… ever again." Claudia said.


	17. Come Back to Me

**A/N**: Thank you for all of the great reviews! You guys really make me so happy that I'm writing this story. And I know that a lot of you are worried about Johnny being in a coma but never fear… there is a method to my madness :) happy reading!! (P.S. check out the trailer that I made for this story… it's on my profile)

**Chapter 17 – Come Back to Me**

Claudia's eyes narrowed on the saddened blonde standing in front of her. However, she felt no sympathy for Lulu. It was because of Lulu that her brother was confined to this stupid hospital bed, not being able to breathe on his own or eat on his own. This was her fault.

"I—I know you're upset about what happened at the warehouse…" Lulu started.

"Upset? I'm way beyond upset… my brother—my _only_ brother is lying in this hospital bed because of you and your stupid pull over him!" Claudia screamed.

"Claudia…" Lulu started, her voice beginning to break.

"No! Don't you dare start crying in front of me… just get out! Get away from my brother!!" Claudia shouted.

"I have every right to be here," Lulu said softly.

"You have absolutely no right to be here! Get out or I'll call security to drag you by your hair and throw you out!" Claudia hissed but nothing could prepare Claudia for what she was about to hear come out of the young girl's mouth.

"I'm Johnny's wife." Lulu said.

The words hit Claudia like a freight train. She sat there, staring at her, not letting a single emotion cross her face. She was lying… she had to be lying. Johnny barely knew the girl… he couldn't have married her. Suddenly, the memory of eavesdropping on Johnny came to her mind and hearing his conversation with Lulu just gave her confirmation: Johnny in way over his head with this girl and she had to do anything and everything to stop him from smashing his life to pieces over an impossible love.

"Liar… you're a liar… get out… guards!" Claudia yelled.

Two large men entered the room and Claudia pointed to Lulu. The men came up behind Lulu and took her by the arm and stood her up.

"Get her out of my sight and away from my brother…" Claudia said.

"You can't do this! I need to be here! He needs me… I know he does…" Lulu cried.

"My brother doesn't need you… you are nothing to him…nothing." Claudia spat.

The guards began to take Lulu out of the room but she fought them every step of the way. Lulu wasn't going to let Claudia keep her from Johnny. How could she even think about not being there when he opened his eyes? However, the guards were both twice Lulu's size and struggling against them was useless. They shoved her outside and slammed the door in her face.

"Johnny!!" Lulu cried.

Tears were streaming down her face as she continued screaming Johnny's name. She hit the door repeatedly until her hand turned bright red. She wanted him to hear her. She needed him to wake up and tell her that they could do this together. She needed to hear him say that he loved her and that everything was going to be ok, that all of this pain was going to be worth it and that they would be together. She sank down to the floor and buried her face in her hands. She couldn't do this alone… she needed him.

* * *

The elevator door opened and Sam McCall-Morgan stepped out of the elevator and onto the tenth floor of General Hospital. She was rummaging through her oversized black handbag for the prescription that she needed to get for her son's ear infection.

"Good morning, Mrs. Morgan."

Sam looked up and saw Dr. Patrick Drake standing in front of her. She smiled warmly at him.

"Good morning to you too, Dr. Drake… how's Robin doing?" she asked.

"She's fine… taking the morning off to stay at home with our daughter… she's caught that cold that's going around." He said.

"Oh yeah… Danny got that cold a few weeks ago… it's rough…" she said.

"Yeah… by the way… have you seen Lulu recently?" he asked.

"Not since Johnny was brought in… why? Is there any change in Johnny's condition?" she asked.

"Yeah… we ran all of the tests and there shouldn't be any reason why he can't wake up… so it's just a matter of time…" he said and Sam exhaled a sigh of relief.

"That's—that's great! Lulu is going to be so happy to hear that…" she said.

"Yeah… I just wanted to tell her since she's Johnny's next of kin…" Patrick said.

"Next of kin? How's that possible?" she asked, her face folding into a confused expression.

"Sonny and Carly didn't tell you? I would've figured since—" he started.

"Since I married into this lifestyle?" Sam asked and Patrick nodded.

"Patrick… I'm not sure if you or anyone else can understand what this life is like… sure a lot of people in this town have had their scares but you guys have no idea what it's like to have guards around you and your kids twenty-four hours a day, or to be taken out of the country when things get dangerous here, or to have the person that you love be shot in your arms just because of what you do for a living…" Sam said softly.

"But you chose to get involved with Jason, Carly chose to get involved with Sonny and Lulu chose to be with Johnny…" he said.

"But you can't help who you love, Patrick… people like Sonny, Jason and Johnny can't think of love as lightly as other people do. Loving someone can get them killed and many women have left because of that. I'm sure that Johnny has warned Lulu away from him numerous times just like Jason warned me and Sonny has warned Carly… but at the end of the day, I know that I can't live without Jason in my life… I've tried and I always end back up with him. I mean—I'm sure that you didn't plan on falling in love with Robin." Sam said.

"No, I didn't." Patrick laughed.

"Anyway… I'm sure that Lulu is around here somewhere… Sonny and Carly keep calling to ask if Lulu is staying with us but she hasn't even called me or Jason and I can't imagine that she would leave Johnny." She said.

"Alright… I'll page her and I'll keep looking… it was great seeing you, Sam." he said.

"Great seeing you too, Patrick." she said.

Patrick turned around and disappeared down another hallway. Sam turned around and headed towards the elevator when she collided with Spinelli.

"Oh my! Deepest apologies fairest Samantha… the Jackal did not see you as he speedily rushed out to see the Blonde One." He sputtered.

"That's ok… have you seen Lulu? Patrick was looking for her just a minute ago…" she asked.

"She is still not in young Zacchara's room?" he asked.

"I'm not sure… Patrick couldn't find her so I'm guessing not." Sam said.

"That is most odd considering the Blonde One's affections for the Prince of Darkness…" he said.

"Lulu isn't in John Zacchara's room…"

Both Spinelli and Sam looked in the direction that the mousy voice came from. Nurse Cromwell was standing in front of them with a clipboard in one hand and her oversized tote bag slung over her other shoulder.

"What do you mean she's not in Johnny's room?" Sam asked.

"I just saw her about an hour ago sitting in the chapel… Claudia Zacchara is with Johnny right now and there are about three guards posted outside his door." Nadine commented.

"I'll go and talk to Lulu… can you run this downstairs? Jason is super paranoid with this whole Zacchara thing and he doesn't want me to drive so I have a car waiting downstairs…" Sam asked, handing him the medicine for her toddler.

"Of course… tell the Blonde One that I shall return as soon as possible." Spinelli said before running back to the elevator.

Sam thanked Nadine for the information and headed straight to the chapel. It was dark, like it always was, with the only light coming from the small candles that were resting in front of the altar. Lulu was sitting in the front row with her hands clasped together and she was muttering under her breath. Sam walked over to her and put her hand on her back. Lulu jumped and turned around to see her.

"Hey," Sam exhaled.

"Hi…" Lulu muttered.

"I know I shouldn't ask you if you're alright… because I know that you aren't… is there anything that I can do?" Sam asked.

"I can't—she won't let me see him, Sam… she won't let me sit with him..." Lulu cried.

Lulu looked up at Sam, tears brimming in her eyes and all Sam could do was to take Lulu in her arms and hold her. She ran her fingers through Lulu's soft blond hair. This must've been killing her… being kept away from the man that she loved when he needed her the most.

"Claudia won't let you see him?" Sam asked.

"No… not even after I told her that Johnny and I are married!" Lulu cried.

"Wait… did you say you and Johnny got married?" Sam asked, shocked.

"I thought you would've heard it by now from Carly or something…" Lulu said.

"Like Carly and I share secrets and are super close?" Sam laughed.

"I guess not…" Lulu muttered.

"So you and Johnny got married? When did that happen? Italy?" Sam asked and Lulu nodded.

"Johnny didn't want to tell anyone because of the situation between our families…" Lulu said.

"But if that's the case… why did you two decide to get married?" Sam asked. Lulu smiled sadly and looked up at Sam again and shrugged.

"Because we're in love and that's all that matters…" Lulu said softly.

* * *

Spinelli walked out of the elevator again and headed towards Johnny's room, thinking that Lulu would be there but ducked behind a corner as Claudia walked out of her brother's room.

"Make sure that you guys talk with hospital security… I don't want the Corinthos girl anywhere near John, do you understand?" Claudia snapped.

Her minions nodded and walked away. Spinelli hid as Claudia passed him in the hallway. He slipped his phone out of his pocket and began punching in letters furiously.

_Claudia and guards are gone…_

It seemed like seconds after he pushed the send button, Spinelli heard Lulu's frantic footsteps coming down the hall. He stepped out into the hallway and Lulu immediately grabbed his arm.

"Sam told me that Claudia and the guards were gone…" Lulu said.

"Yes… the cruel one has left…" Spinelli said.

Lulu immediately rushed into Johnny's hospital room. He hadn't changed since she last saw him six hours ago but it felt like she hadn't seen him in years. She pulled up a chair next to his bedside and gently caressed his face. The breathing tube had been taken out because he began breathing on his own but it still never got easier to see him lying so still.

"Hey… I missed you like crazy… I'm sorry that I had to tell Claudia about us being married… I thought that she would understand but apparently not…" she said softly.

She forced a smile as she traced the outline of his lips and then moved to his forehead. She sighed heavily and hung her head. She was running out of ideas to bring him back to her. He was just lost somewhere in there and she had no idea how to draw him out. She wiped her eyes and kissed him sweetly on his lips.

"Johnny… you need to wake up now… I—I need you… now more than ever. I'm—_I'm pregnant_…" she said, her voice cracking as she uttered the last two words. She took his hand in hers and placed it on her stomach.

"You promised me a lifetime, Johnny… when we stood on that terrace and said our vows… you said that you wanted forever with me… and right now, you're not holding up your end of the deal, Johnny… this baby needs its dad… and I need you too…" she said.

Suddenly, she felt Johnny's fingers move on her stomach. Her other hand grasped his and her eyes shot open and she looked down at Johnny. She felt tears fall down her face as Johnny's eyes opened slowly. He looked up at her with weary eyes, as if he had been just woken up from a long nap, but managed to smile.

"I would never even think about leaving you…" Johnny whispered.


	18. Don't Stand So Close to Me

**A/N:** Ok, I'm taking a risk by starting another story while working on this but my other JoLu fic is going to be a lot shorter than this one. But never fear! This one is still my number one priority! But if you would be so kind to read my other one, I will be eternally grateful :) And don't forget to leave a comment after this chapter! Happy reading!

**Chapter 18 – Don't Stand So Close to Me**

Lulu could hardly believe her eyes. She thought that she would never see Johnny's beautiful brown eyes ever again but there they were, staring up at her. She covered her mouth with her hands and shook her head in disbelief. She was dreaming… she had to be dreaming. This wasn't real. She was going to wake up in about two seconds and see him lying there so still again. His hand found hers on his bed and she realized that she wasn't hallucinating. She went straight into his arms and he caught her and held her tight. She could barely contain her joy as he held her and he kissed the top of her head as she cried on his shoulder.

"Johnny," she sobbed.

She could barely get the last syllable of his name out before he pulled her in for a kiss. He pulled away from her lips and gently kissed the place where her tears rolled down her face. She cupped his face in her hands, examining every inch of his face.

"I can't believe this… you're—you're awake and you're ok…" she whispered.

"Why wouldn't I be ok? I have way too much to live for…" he said, smiling wearily.

"There was a shooting at the warehouse where we were and—" Lulu started.

"A shooting? Are you ok? Are you hurt? What about the baby?" he suddenly asked and Lulu looked up at him sharply.

"You heard me?" she asked, squeezing his hand.

"It was faint at first… and then I heard—or I thought I heard you say that you were pregnant…" he muttered.

"I am pregnant, Johnny." She said.

She was waiting for a horrible reaction out of him. She expected him to go on about how he never wanted to have kids and how it wasn't fair to bring innocent children into this lifestyle but he never did. He exhaled shakily and squeezed her hand tightly. He then lifted his other hand and placed it on her stomach. His face softened and she could see a trace of a smile curve on his lips.

"Our baby…" he muttered. She nodded and put her hands on top of the hand that was on her stomach. He looked up at her and smiled.

"It was the first time, wasn't it?" he chuckled.

"Yeah… two and a half weeks…" she said, running her fingers through his hair.

"And are you ok with this?" he asked.

"Are you?" she asked.

He lifted her hand up to his lips and kissed her fingertips gently. He was never keen on the idea of having a family. People in the business that both he and Lulu grew up in shouldn't have kids, Johnny always thought. It was never fair to the kids to have more bodyguards than real friends and then there was also the possibility that your father could end up slowly teetering over the edge and try to kill you when you were eight years old. No kid should ever be subjected to that.

But this was different. He didn't feel that sense of dread or regret when he put his hand on Lulu's stomach. Maybe… just maybe… he could do this. Maybe he could have that life without his father's business looming over his head. He didn't have to be bound by this dynasty that he was expected to carry on. This baby gave him a reason to walk away from it all.

"I hope it's a girl… and she looks just like you…" he said, looking back up at his wife.

She wrapped her arms around him and snuggled into his chest. She never thought that this was possible. She pressed her lips to the white bandage wrapped around Johnny's forehead. He was here with her… fully awake and completely fine.

"You know… you could be having twins or triplets… I mean, from what I remember about that first time… you really got me going," he chuckled.

"I'm going to ignore that just this one time because I'm so happy that you're awake." She laughed.

"And it wouldn't be wise to hit the guy who was in a coma," he said, smirking. She lifted her head up and looked into Johnny's eyes.

"Welcome back, Mr. Zacchara…" she said, smiling.

"Good to be back, Mrs. Zacchara…" he said before kissing her again.

* * *

Claudia snapped her phone shut and stormed back down the hallway towards her brother's room. Once Johnny was up and out of the hospital, they were going to go through every single person on staff and clear out the useless people on the payroll. The entire staff knew what was happening with Johnny and the fact that she had to go back to Crimson Pointe to deal with a "crisis" with a few of the guards was absurd. She pushed the door open to Johnny's room and was startled to see not only Lulu with her limbs wrapped around her little brother's body but that his eyes were open and his hand was moving up and down her back.

"What the hell is this?" Claudia demanded.

Lulu sat up suddenly and tried to move off the bed but Johnny shook his head and held her closer. Lulu looked at Johnny with fear in her eyes but Johnny's gaze never left his sister's intense stare.

"I thought I told you to stay away from my brother," Claudia growled at Lulu.

"I—I'm—I'm sorry," Lulu stammered.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about…" Johnny muttered to Lulu as he curled a piece of hair around her ear.

"John! Stay out of this! This is between me and this liar right here." Claudia snapped.

"Hey! Don't you ever speak to my wife like that ever again, do you hear me?" Johnny yelled.

Johnny suddenly pressed his hand to his forehead and gritted his teeth in pain. The machines that he was hooked up to started making every single frightful noise that was possible. Dr. Drake rushed in with two nurses and pushed both Lulu and Claudia out of their way in order to tend to Johnny. Lulu covered her mouth with her hands and tried to remain composed.

"What the hell happened?" Patrick roared.

"Johnny woke up about fifteen or twenty minutes ago and then when Claudia walked in, they began arguing and Johnny was yelling and… he just looked like he had a sharp pain in his forehead…" Lulu said.

"This is your fault!" Claudia said, turning on Lulu.

"Me? How is this my fault?" Lulu cried.

"Both of you! Get out! You're not helping…" Patrick yelled.

Nurse Johnson escorted both Lulu and Claudia out of the room and shut the door behind them. Lulu immediately went to the glass and watched as Patrick worked swiftly on Johnny. Claudia stood there, with her back leaning against the wall as she held her breath, waiting for word that her brother was going to be ok. Patrick emerged from the room a few minutes later.

"How is he?" Lulu immediately asked.

"He almost had a setback but we got him stabilized…" Patrick said softly.

"Ok… so when can my brother go home with me?" Claudia asked.

"Johnny just woke up from a coma and he also almost experienced a major setback in his recovery so it's too soon to determine exactly when we're going to be able to release him." Patrick said.

"Can I go see him?" Lulu asked.

"No, you can't see him… you're going to stay away from him… he's in this position because of you and your inability to control your hormones." Claudia said.

"You need an attitude adjustment… your brother obviously cares a lot about Lulu…" Patrick said.

"My brother was just shot… probably by this girl's father… I don't want her anywhere near my little brother." Claudia said, folding her arms.

"Well, it's not your call to make… Lulu, he's asking for you…" Patrick said. Claudia rolled her eyes and started to walk down the hallway. She couldn't believe that this was happening.

"Claudia, wait!" Lulu called after her and Claudia turned around slowly back towards Lulu.

"You can go in and see him if you want first, Claudia… I had some time with him when he woke up and I just wouldn't feel right if you didn't get to be with him…" Lulu said softly.

Claudia tilted her head and looked at Lulu. Why was she being nice to her? All Claudia had ever done was spat in Lulu's face every time she came across her. Maybe… just maybe… Lulu did actually care for her little brother. Claudia pursed her lips and walked past Lulu and back into Johnny's room. He looked up at her and crossed his arms.

"Where's Lulu?" he said, averting his eyes.

"She told me to come in and see you first…" Claudia said softly.

"I don't want to see you…" Johnny growled, as he pulled the covers closer.

"John…" she sighed.

"Get Lulu back in here…" he said.

"Can you just talk to me? Just for a moment?" she asked.

"About what, Claudia? God… I feel like I don't know you anymore! You used to get me… you could just look at me in the face and just know exactly how I was feeling." He said.

Claudia blinked slowly, letting one lone tear fall down her cheek. She reached for his hand but he withdrew it quickly.

"So much has happened since I went away…" Claudia said.

"Enough stuff for you to want to kill my wife?" he asked, coolly.

"What?" she asked, taken aback by his words.

"I heard you… you and whoever you're working with want to kill Lulu and Carly to get to Corinthos. Don't even try to lie to me and deny it…" he said.

"You don't understand, John…" she muttered.

"You're right… I don't understand because no one would understand if they were me! Lulu and our family are the only things that are worth living for! My life is nothing without them in it and you want to take them away from me… you know what… just get out! Get out and bring Lulu in here… I can't even look at you anymore..." Johnny yelled before turning away from her.

She nodded and stood up. She bit her bottom lip and walked to the door. She could take a lot of crap from people and she had really thick skin but she couldn't take this from her own brother. She could count the number of people who she cared about on one hand… on one finger actually. She didn't care what other people thought of her but she cared what Johnny thought.

_And he hated her._

She put her hand on the door but couldn't push it open. She was waiting for him to take back his words but he just sat there silently. In that moment, she truly felt alone. She had no one in the world now and she realized that the power, the money, and the respect… meant absolutely nothing without the love and support of her brother. She had to make this right. She turned back to her brother and exhaled heavily.

"I love you, John…" she whispered before walking out the door.

The minute that Claudia was out of earshot of the room, she took out her phone and dialed Alcazar's number but he didn't pick up. She kept trying to get him on the phone as she walked to her car. As soon as she'd get the voicemail, she would hang up and redial the number. The town car pulled up to the house as she heard Lorenzo's cold voice for the fifteenth time on his voicemail.

"Listen… the hits are off… I want out of this deal… do you hear me? The hits on Carly and Lulu are off!" Claudia screamed into the phone as she walked into the study.

"I was hoping you weren't going to say that,"

She looked up sharply and saw Lorenzo sitting behind her father's desk with a smug smirk splashed across his face. Claudia closed the doors behind her and walked straight over to the desk.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed.

"You kept calling me… and that made me worried so I had to come over and see what was going on… I'm glad I did…" he said coldly.

"I'm done, Lorenzo… I don't want anything to do with the takeover of Corinthos' territory." She said.

"That's too bad… I was really looking forward to owning this town with you by my side… we've always made a great team, Claudia… you know better than anyone how good we are together." He said.

"That was a long time ago," she growled. His voice made her skin crawl.

"Well… since you're not going to help me… you've quickly changed from an asset to a liability." He said and that was when he showed her the sleek silver gun.

* * *

Trevor Lansing cursed under his breath as he walked up the driveway to the Zacchara mansion. Claudia's car was blocking the driveway and the town car that brought Trevor back from the institution where they were holding Anthony Zacchara was forced to pull up to the curb and walk across the grass up to the driveway. He opened the door and the first thing he noticed was that something wasn't right. It was an instinctual response. Something just felt wrong in that house… more so than usual. He opened the door to Anthony's study slowly. His eyes immediately went to the floor as a huge bloodstain was soaking Anthony's prized antique Persian rug. He rushed over to the heap lying next to the large pool and turned the person over.

"Oh my god…" Trevor whispered.

It was Claudia… _and she was dead_.


	19. Damage

**A/N:** Thank you guys for being so incredibly patient and supportive with this story! This chapter is really long… about 3,000 words… the longest one to date so yay! There's only 3 more chapters left (plus a epilogue)!! Happy reading! Don't forget to leave a comment!!

**Chapter 19 – Damage**

Sonny Corinthos poured himself a glass of scotch from the liquor cabinet in his living room and gulped it down in one swallow. He shut his eyes as it burned all the way down. He technically wasn't supposed to be drinking but he made an exception. His family was falling apart and he was powerless to stop it. Lulu was slipping farther away from him and Carly was furious with him for pushing Lulu this far. All he wanted to do was protect his family. With his lifestyle, he couldn't guarantee his family's safety but he could do anything and everything in his power to protect them and if that meant keeping Lulu away from Johnny Zacchara, so be it.

"Mr. C… D.A. Ric Lansing is here to see you," Max said.

Sonny nodded and Ric was shown into the living room. Sonny never really cared for his younger brother. Ric was constantly trying to overcompensate for the fact that Sonny received their mother's attention and not him. Ric had the respectable career, the big house, the nice car, and a safe family with his wife Alexis Davis… and Ric never let Sonny forget it.

"I'm here to question you about the death of Claudia Zacchara." Ric said.

"I don't know anything about that…" Sonny said, crossing his arms.

"Where were you around four o'clock this afternoon?" Ric asked.

"I was at my office… you can ask anyone on my staff… Max drove me to the office around three-fifteen and I came back home just a little bit after five." Sonny said.

"Of course you wouldn't be stupid enough to pull the trigger yourself… what about Jason?" Ric asked.

"Well, why don't you ask me yourself?"

Ric turned around as Jason walked into the study. He stood next to Sonny and folded his arms like Sonny.

"Do you know anything about the murder of Claudia Zacchara?" Ric asked.

"The only thing I know about Claudia Zacchara is that she kicked Lulu out of her brother's room earlier today and that Lulu was really upset." Jason said.

"Does that mean I should question Lulu?" Ric asked.

"Hey! Leave Lulu out of this! She's going through a lot! If I find you or any of your cops questioning her, I swear to god I will kill you!" Sonny growled.

"Just because you run the streets in this town doesn't mean you own it, Sonny. I'll be in touch if I have any more questions." Ric muttered and Jason rolled his eyes as Ric left the house.

"Claudia Zacchara is dead?" Sonny hissed.

"This isn't good…" Jason muttered.

"Ok… I need you to go to the hospital and get Lulu… I'll go upstairs and get Carly and the boys packed. We need to get them out of Port Charles right now." Sonny said.

"Lulu isn't going to want to leave Johnny in the hospital," Jason said.

"Lulu is still my daughter. I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep her safe, Jason. Johnny Zacchara or no Johnny Zacchara is going to keep me from protecting my family." Sonny said.

"Ok, I'll convince her and I'll tell Sam to pack her and Danny up but I'll send them someplace else… we can't have a huge crowd of people heading to one location… it's too suspicious…" Jason said, walking towards the door. Sonny looked up to the stairs and saw Carly standing there with her hand on young Michael's shoulder.

"What's happening, dad?" Michael asked.

"You, Morgan, your mom, and Lulu are going to go to the island for a while…" Sonny said.

* * *

Johnny woke up to Lulu hands gently stroking his face. He opened his eyes slowly and she smiled. She leaned over and kissed him slowly. His hands came up and cupped her face gently. He couldn't wait to wake up to this face every single morning for the rest of his life.

"You look tired…" he said, running his fingers over her lips.

"I'm fine…" she muttered, raking her fingers through his hair.

"No… you're not… you're exhausted… you should go home and sleep… it's not like I'm going anywhere any time soon…" Johnny said.

"I'm not leaving you," Lulu said, taking his hand in hers.

He smiled and squeezed her hand. He loved her so much… even though she was stubborn as ever and truthfully, he didn't want her to leave either. He opened his mouth to say something but Trevor barged into the room at that moment. Usually, Trevor was the epitome of calm, cool and collected but not now.

"John… we need to talk," Trevor said, out of breath. He looked over to Lulu, implying that she should leave the room.

"Whatever you say to me you can say in front of my wife…" Johnny said, looking to Trevor.

"John… this is serious…" Trevor muttered.

"I _am_ being serious… just tell me what it is, Trevor, or get out of my sight." Johnny said.

"It's about Claudia…" Trevor started.

"Don't tell me that she sent you here to make peace between us… I didn't know that she was that desperate to use you to be the mediator between us." Johnny said.

"No… John… _Claudia is dead_…" Trevor said.

Lulu covered her mouth with her hands and looked at Johnny. His face looked like he had just been hit by a car. All of the emotion and color vanished from his face. She reached for his hand but moved it away from her. She bit her bottom lip and tried not to cry. She knew that he was shutting down on her. The wall that she had spent so much time breaking down to let her love him was going back up and there was nothing that she could do to stop it.

"Oh my god…" she whispered.

"Who? Who did this to my sister?" Johnny asked slowly.

"Come on, John… you know exactly who did this… who in this town would want to see Claudia out of power?" Trevor asked.

Lulu's eyes widened. Of course, Trevor was talking about Sonny. He would've loved to pin something on Sonny and as much as she hated to think about it, he could've been right. Johnny looked up at Trevor and clenched his fist.

"Corinthos…" Johnny muttered under his breath.

"Johnny, wait… you don't know that for sure…" she started.

"This doesn't concern you…" Trevor growled.

"You're just planting seeds in Johnny's head just to get what you want, Trevor!" Lulu fired back.

"Sonny has been threatening this family for months!" Trevor yelled.

"And I'm sure that the Zaccharas have a mountain of enemies… that doesn't mean that my father had anything to do with this!" she said, standing up.

"Listen… John… marrying this girl was a big mistake… she's never going to be loyal to you as long as she's got ties with the Corinthos-Morgan organization!" Trevor yelled.

"That is not true and you know it Johnny… you know that I love you more than anything!" she cried, turning back around to face Johnny.

"That's enough! Both of you! Get out! Now!" Johnny yelled.

"But Johnny…" Lulu started.

"Please just go," Johnny said, turning away from her.

He curled up on his bed and shut his eyes. Trevor nodded and walked out of the room. Lulu walked over to Johnny and put her hand on his shoulder but he just shook his head.

"Don't, Lulu… please just leave me alone…" he said.

She sighed heavily and hung her head in defeat. It was no use. He wasn't going to let her in, no matter how hard she tried. She walked slowly over to the door and closed it softly behind her as she left. She quickly threw her purse against the wall and sank down to the floor, shaking and crying. As much as she hated it admit it, Trevor was right. There was no way for this relationship to work. As much as she loved Johnny and wanted a life with him, she could never turn her back on her family. Despite everything that had happened between her and Sonny, he was still her father, she loved him and she could never completely side against him. Loyalty was all that mattered to people in the business and she couldn't be completely loyal to either side… she was just stuck in the middle, being pulled back and forth between the families and it seemed like this was her breaking point.

* * *

Jason got to the hospital in record time. He swerved his black Lincoln Navigator into the closest parking spot and ran into the building. His mind was somewhat at ease because Sam and Danny were safely on a train headed upstate and now all he had to do was find Lulu and get her, Carly and the boys out of town. He went up to the floor where Johnny's room was located and immediately ran into Robin Scorpio-Drake.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Robin…" he said.

"It's alright, Jason… what's got you in such a hurry?" she inquired.

"I'm looking for Lulu… is she still with Johnny?" he asked.

"I just saw her walking towards the elevators… you must've just missed her." Robin said.

Jason thanked her and went back towards the elevators. Lulu was standing in front of an open elevator. Jason ran after her, squeezing in between the closing doors. The whole commotion startled Lulu and she screamed but as soon as she saw that it was Jason, she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Oh my god! Jason! You scared me half to death!" she yelled.

"No time for apologies… we need to get you home now…" Jason said, pushing the button for the hospital lobby.

"Can I stay with you and Sam tonight? I just—I just can't go home…" she muttered.

"You're not going home or with me back to the penthouse…" he said.

"What? What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Claudia Zacchara is dead, Lulu…" Jason said.

"I know…" she muttered.

"How do you know?" he asked, sharply looking up at her.

"Trevor came to see Johnny and told him… I've never seen him like this… he's—he just seemed so empty…" Lulu said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Did he say something to you?" Jason asked.

"He's just really hurt right now and he doesn't want to see me… he thinks that Sonny was the one who had Claudia killed…" Lulu said.

"We didn't have anything to do with this… which is why we're sending you, Carly and the boys are going out of town…" he said.

"Jason! You can't be serious! I can't leave Johnny right now! He needs me!" she cried.

"Whoever killed Claudia could easily come after you or Carly or the boys… my job is to keep you safe, Lulu and that's what I'm going to do… you don't have to like it but I wouldn't be doing this if I thought that you weren't in any danger…" he said as the elevator doors opened up into the lobby.

"Fine… I'll go…" she relented.

"That's it? No more protests?" he asked.

"It's not like it'll make a difference…" she muttered.

The two of them walked out of the hospital and into the chilly night. Jason disarmed the car and they both climbed into the car. As he turned around to back the car out of the parking lot, he looked over at Lulu curled up in the seat, looking out of the window towards the hospital. He sighed heavily. He knew that look and all of the pain that look was masking. He shifted the car into drive and sped off, merging onto the main highway and into the night.

* * *

Georgie was slumped over her textbooks, fast asleep when her phone began to ring. She woke with a start, unaware of her surroundings but she quickly got a hold of her phone and flipped it open.

"Hello?" she asked, sleepily into her phone.

"Georgie? I'm sorry… did I wake you?"

Georgie sighed a sigh of relief. It was Lulu and she seemed better than the last time that she saw her, which was when Lulu got confirmation that she was pregnant.

"I'm glad you did wake me up… how are you? How's Johnny?" Georgie asked.

"Georgie… I don't—I don't know who else I can talk to…" Lulu cried.

"You can talk to me… I'm here for you… I always have and I always will…" Georgie said.

"They're sending me away…" Lulu started.

"What do you mean?" Georgie asked.

"Sonny and Jason are sending me, Carly, Michael and Morgan out of town…" Lulu said.

"What? Why?" Georgie asked.

"Claudia Zacchara is dead and they're worried that either Carly or I'm going to be next…" Lulu said.

"Johnny must be devastated…" Georgie whispered.

"He won't let me in, Georgie… he told me to get out when I tried to comfort him… I—I've just never seen him like that before…" Lulu cried.

"Lulu, you know that Johnny loves you more than anything else in this world…" Georgie started.

"I know… I know… I don't doubt that at all… which is why I need you to do something for me." Lulu said.

"Name it," Georgie said.

"Can you go to the hospital for me and tell Johnny that I love him and not to worry about me?" Lulu asked.

"Of course… he'll want to hear it from you though…" Georgie said.

"I would go if I could but I'm literally about to get into a car with Carly and the boys." Lulu said.

"Ok, I'll head down to the hospital right now…" Georgie said, grabbing her car keys.

"Thank you, Georgie… you're amazing." Lulu said.

"Be safe… call me as soon as you can…" Georgie said.

"I will…" Lulu said.

* * *

Johnny was staring up at the ceiling. His mind was in a million different places. He clenched his teeth together, stopping himself from screaming at the top of his lungs. His sister was gone. He couldn't even begin to wrap his head around that. The big sister that he would curl up with at night when he'd get scared of thunder or their dad's fits, the big sister that would sneak him an extra chocolate chip cookie after dinner when his mom wasn't looking, the big sister that was always there for him when they were kids… that sister was gone. He covered his head in his hands and thought about the last thing that he said to Claudia. It was so horrible that it made him sick to his stomach. He heard someone outside of the door and he quickly sat up, hoping that it was Lulu but the person outside of the door continued on his way down the hall.

_He was such an idiot_.

He couldn't believe himself. He pushed Lulu away when it was the last thing that he wanted to do. Her eyes when he pushed her hand away haunted him. They were so sad and lost and hurt him so badly. She was all that he had left. Losing Claudia woke Johnny up to what was sitting right in front of him… he couldn't live without his wife.

"Johnny,"

He looked up sharply, thinking that it was Lulu but it wasn't her.

"Georgie… what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Lulu sent me…" she said softly, closing the door behind her.

"Lulu sent you? Why didn't she just come herself?" he asked.

Georgie walked towards him and folded her arms. Her eyes were narrowed on him.

"You're a jackass, you know that right?" she spat.

"Excuse me?" he asked, taken aback by her words.

"You're being incredibly selfish, you know that? Shutting down on Lulu like that… not even giving her feelings any thought! She thinks the world of you… loves you more than life… wants to have—is going to have a family with you… and when the worst happens, you push her away? What is wrong with you?" Georgie yelled.

Johnny sat there, completely speechless. He couldn't have explained the stupidity of his behavior any better.

"I—I know that I was stupid to yell at her… I didn't mean it," he stammered.

"She didn't deserve that…" she said.

"No… she didn't… I was just—oh my god… is she really upset? I don't want her to think that I'm angry with her…" he said.

"Of course she's upset! You tossed her out of your room… do you know what she went through after you got shot? She's been here at your side ever since you were wheeled into this hospital!" she yelled.

"Georgie! Don't you think that I don't know that? The only reason why I came back was to come back to Lulu… she means more to me than my own life! Her and our baby are my entire world… so hand me my cell phone so I can tell my wife that!" Johnny cried.

Georgie couldn't help but to crack a small smile and she went to the nightstand and handed him his cell phone. He punched in Lulu's number quickly and pressed the phone against his ear. The phone rang quite a few times but when it picked up, it wasn't what he expected.

"Lulu's not here, Johnny…" the person on the other side of the call said.

"Who the hell is this? Jason?" Johnny asked.

"Lulu's been taken out of town…" Jason said.

"What? You took my wife out of town without even telling me? Where is she?" Johnny demanded.

"I can't tell you that… it's too dangerous…" Jason said.

"Damn it, Morgan… you better tell me where she is or I swear I'll—" Johnny started.

"It's my job to keep Lulu safe… and I'm not going to let you get in the way of that… the best thing you can do is just get better for Lulu so she has a husband to come home to…" Jason said and with that the line disconnected.


	20. Demons

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay with this chapter… after that amazing JoLu love scene that we got, I was inspired to make a few music videos and the story took a backseat for a few days but I'm back! (But if you're into watching GH/JoLu music videos, you should check out mine :) I'm very proud of how they've turned out)

**Chapter 20 – Demons**

Carly hated how quiet the car was. Morgan was fast asleep, Michael was too engrossed in his portable electronics, and Lulu was just staring out of the window, watching other cars zoom by, not saying a word. Carly folded her arms and sighed heavily.

"Lulu…" Carly started.

"What?" Lulu muttered.

"If you don't tell me what's wrong, I can't help you…" Carly said.

"I don't need any help." Lulu quipped.

Lulu felt Carly reach over and curl a piece of Lulu's blond hair around her ear. Lulu felt like she was going to explode. Keeping everything inside was killing her. There was a time where she could tell Carly everything. She was more than a cousin or a mother figure to Lulu. Carly was one of her very closest friends. Carly knew Lulu inside and out and a part of Lulu wished that Carly could just read her and figure it out so she wouldn't have to say the words.

"Lulu… come on… just talk to me…" Carly whispered, gently caressing her back.

Lulu sighed shakily and clenched her teeth. She wasn't going to break. She wasn't going to let herself break. She turned to face Carly and looked up at her cousin.

"I'm scared…" Lulu murmured.

Carly nodded and took Lulu in her arms. Lulu closed her eyes and laid her head on Carly's shoulder as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to soothe her worried young cousin. What Lulu was scared of, Carly didn't know but letting her know what she was feeling was a start to uncovering everything that happened between Lulu and Johnny Zacchara. The car slowed down and Carly looked ahead and saw that they were approaching a toll. Suddenly, shots rang out, shattering the glass in the front seats. Lulu shrieked and Carly immediately covered Michael and Morgan.

"Get down!" Carly screamed.

Lulu, Michael and Morgan immediately hit the floor and covered their ears. When the gunfire stopped, they heard shuffling of feet outside of the car.

"Get rid of the driver and the other guard…" a voice muttered.

The car door opened and the two lifeless bodies were dragged out of the seats and tossed onto the side of the road carelessly. Lulu could hear Morgan whimper in the back seat and heard Carly try to calm him down. Her hand immediately went to her stomach and she sighed nervously. She closed her eyes and prayed that everything was going to be ok for her, her family and her baby.

"Take them down to the piers… the boss wants them alive…" the same voice said cruelly.

Two new men entered the car and started up the engine. The car then made a wide u-turn and headed back towards Port Charles. Carly sat up first, surveying all that happened. Lulu sat up next but then found herself staring into the barrel of a gun.

"Don't even think about trying to stop us…" the man in the passenger seat said.

* * *

Spinelli got to the hospital as fast as he could. Georgie had called him and asked him to meet her there and that it was a matter of life and death. As soon as the elevator doors opened, he saw Georgie and she immediately grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall.

"Hurry up, Spinelli!!" Georgie hissed.

"Wh—where are you taking me?" Spinelli whined.

Georgie rolled her eyes and shoved Spinelli into Johnny's hospital room. Johnny was sitting in his bed, his head in his hands. Spinelli clutched his computer bag close as he looked at Johnny and for the first time, Spinelli regarded Johnny as a human being… someone who felt and had real emotions because as soon as Johnny lifted his head and looked Spinelli dead in the eye, he knew that everything that he had ever heard about Johnny Zacchara was completely untrue.

"Spinelli… we need to know where Jason and Sonny sent Lulu…" Georgie said softly.

"I'm—I'm afraid that the Jackal doesn't know where Stone Cold and Mr. Corinthos Sir sent fair Lulu to…" Spinelli muttered.

"But can't you try to find out where they went?" she pleaded.

"Even if I did, the Jackal would evoke the most unpleasant wrath of Stone Cold and—" Spinelli started.

"Spinelli!" Johnny yelled.

Spinelli quickly shut his mouth and looked down at his black converse sneakers. Spinelli's unusual methods of communication weren't for everyone and Spinelli understood that his ramblings may not have been the best thing for Johnny at the moment.

"Look at Georgie…" Johnny said softly.

"The Jackal is most confused by the young Zacchara's request…" Spinelli said.

"Just look at Georgie…" Johnny said firmly.

"But—" Spinelli sputtered.

"Just look at her!" Johnny yelled. Georgie looked from Johnny to Spinelli, not sure what was going on. Spinelli nodded and he looked up at her.

"The Jackal's gaze is upon fair and wise Georgie…" Spinelli muttered.

Johnny looked down at his hands, twisting his wedding band around on his finger. His bottom lip was trembling, thinking about Lulu… hearing her voice in his head like a haunting whisper. He exhaled deeply and looked back up at Spinelli.

"Do you love her?" Johnny asked.

"What?" Spinelli asked.

"Do you love Georgie?" Johnny asked, his tone rising.

"Yes! The Jackal loves fair and wise Georgie with all of his heart and soul!" Spinelli cried and Georgie covered her mouth with her hands as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Would you die for her?" Johnny asked.

"If Georgie were to be in any sort of danger… yes, the Jackal would not hesitate to give his life to save the woman that he loves…" Spinelli said.

"And now imagine… she disappears… and you have no idea where she is, who she's with or if she's safe… what would you do?" Johnny asked.

"Stone Cold assured the Jackal that fair Lulu would be safe from any harm!" Spinelli cried.

"That's not what I asked!!" Johnny screamed.

The entire room fell silent at his outburst. Johnny held his head in his hands and doubled over, hiding the tears that were falling from his eyes from Georgie and Spinelli. His father had lectured him on weakness so many times in his life. Despite the fact that his mental health was deteriorating at the time, there was some truth to his speeches. His father told him to never let a woman so close so that she could hold the power to destroy him. It amazed Johnny because it was like his father was aware that he was sick and that his mother… rather his obsessive love for his mother did this to him… and the worst thing about it was that Johnny realized in that moment how he wouldn't be any different. He could see himself heading down that long spiral downwards if he lost Lulu.

"What would you do?" Johnny asked, calming himself down.

"The Jack—no—_I_ would do everything in my power to assure that I bring her home safely…" Spinelli said.

"You would?" Johnny asked.

"Yes! I would move heaven and earth for Georgie… which is the same sentiment that the young Zacchara feels about fair Lulu… the Jackal guesses." Spinelli said.

"Lulu… Lulu is the air in my lungs… the blood in my veins… she's what keeps me alive… I—I can't—I don't know what I would do if she—" he started but his voice broke off and he covered his mouth with his hands, unable to finish his horrible thought.

"Lulu is going to be fine, Johnny…" Georgie whispered.

"You don't know that!" Johnny cried.

"Stone Cold promised to keep fair Lulu safe from any harm… Stone Cold loves Lulu like she was his own…" Spinelli said.

"I don't give a damn about Jason! Lulu is my wife! It's my job to protect her and our family and I failed her… if anything happens to her… I'd never forgive myself…" Johnny said softly, clasping his hands together.

Georgie looked to Spinelli, pleading with him to help Johnny find Lulu with her eyes. Spinelli quickly pulled up a chair next to Johnny's bedside and took his laptop out of his bag. Georgie smiled and sat beside him.

"Ok… let's find the blonde one…" Spinelli said, typing furiously.

* * *

Jason opened the door to his empty penthouse and sighed heavily. The apartment felt so empty and cold without his wife and son there. He bent over and picked up Danny's favorite stuffed frog. He smiled sadly and thought about how Danny was going to miss "Froggie". He set down the stuffed animal on the desk and flopped down on the couch. Suddenly, a violent knock came to the door.

"Come in!" Jason called.

Max stumbled into the penthouse, completely out of breath. Jason looked up sharply at Max as he rushed over to the couch.

"Jason… there's—there's…" Max stammered.

"Max… calm down…" Jason said.

"Ok…" Max exhaled.

"Now, tell me what's wrong…" Jason said calmly.

"Something went wrong with transporting Carly, Lulu and the boys…" Max muttered.

Jason's stomach dropped and all of the color completely vanished from his face. He couldn't believe that this was happening.

"What do you mean? What the hell went wrong?" Jason asked, standing up.

"Someone overtook the SUV that was carrying them and…" Max started.

"Damn it!" Jason shouted, slamming his fist down on the desk.

This couldn't be happening. Lulu, Carly and the boys were not only Sonny's family but Jason's as well. Carly was his best friend in the entire world, the one who stuck by him through everything, Michael and Morgan were wonderful boys and were always around him and Sam, and Lulu was like his little sister. He loved them all and it killed him that he couldn't keep them safe. Sonny entrusted him to protect his family and he failed.

"Jason… what do you want to do?" Max asked.

Jason looked up at Max and sighed heavily. There were so many thoughts that were running through his mind. He tried to not let his emotions appear on his face.

"Ok… I want you to get as much information as you can about what happened… I want to know every single thing that happened." Jason said.

"Should I inform Mr. C?" Max asked.

"No… not yet… I don't want to upset him until I have some idea how to get Carly, Lulu and the boys back… also I need you to check on Sam and Danny for me… I need to know that they're safe… I'll call Spinelli and see what I can find out from him…" Jason ordered.

Max nodded and exited the office. Jason slumped back into his chair and felt like screaming. He pulled out his cell phone and immediately punched in Spinelli's phone number. His mind was in a thousand different places… was Morgan scared? Were Sam and Danny safe? Was Michael staying calm?

"Stone Cold?"

Jason snapped out of his thoughts and sat up straight.

"Spinelli… don't freak out… but I need you to do something for me…" Jason started.

* * *

Johnny knew that the phone call that Spinelli received from Jason Morgan couldn't have delivered good news. Spinelli's face went completely white and he was too much in shock to go into one of his panicked rants. Spinelli slowly snapped his phone shut and turned to Georgie.

"Spinelli? What is it?" Georgie asked.

"The—the car… the car that was supposed to be transporting the Valkyrie, the two Corinthos offspring and fair Lulu…" Spinelli started.

"Oh no…" Georgie gasped.

"What? Finish, Spinelli!" Johnny barked.

"The car that was taking them to their place of departure to leave the country was hijacked and no one knows where they are…" Spinelli said, looking up at Johnny.

The words hit Johnny like a freight train. This couldn't be happening. He shut his eyes and felt his throat closing in on him. All he could think about was the last thing that he said to Lulu. He was so awful to her… he couldn't believe the things that he had said… and he just couldn't shake the fact that perhaps that was the last time he was ever going to see her. He might never get the chance to apologize to her for being horrible to her… he might never get the chance to hold their child in his arms…

_He might never see his wife ever again._

"Oh my god…" Georgie whispered.

"Stone Cold has asked the Jackal to investigate…" Spinelli said, turning to his computer.

Johnny just sat there on the hospital bed, completely motionless. His eyes were completely glazed over with grief, worry and regret. Georgie knew that Johnny was blaming himself for what had happened to Lulu. It was written all over his face.

"Johnny… Lulu wouldn't want you to blame yourself…" Georgie said softly.

"Why? It's my fault… if I hadn't—if I hadn't yelled or said those awful things to her… she would be here… she would be lying right here next to me… safe and whole…" Johnny started.

"You were upset… your sister just died and it was only natural that you had some negative reaction…" Georgie said.

"That's no excuse, Georgie! I did this! I did this to her!" Johnny cried.

Johnny buried his face in his hands and tried hard not to cry. Besides Claudia, Lulu was the only person that had ever seen him cry and he couldn't let himself cry in front of Spinelli and Georgie. If he did, that would mean that Lulu was truly lost to him forever.

"Oh! Oh my—Georgie!! Look!!" Spinelli screamed. Georgie stood up and rushed over to Spinelli.

"What is it?" Georgie asked.

"It appears that three hundred thousand dollars was just wired from an account that used to belong to Lorenzo Alcazar to an offshore account." Spinelli said.

"But Lorenzo Alcazar is dead… Jason was the one who killed him…" Georgie said.

"But if Lorenzo Alcazar's accounts are still active… maybe he or some other family member may have access to the account." Spinelli said.

"The Alcazars have every reason to hate Sonny and want him to suffer…" Georgie said.

"And everyone knows that Sonny's weakness is—" Spinelli started.

"His children… oh my god… I have to get out of this hospital…" Johnny said, kicking back the covers.

As if on cue, Dr. Patrick Drake walked into the room to see his patient that was just recovering from brain surgery attempting to get out of bed. Georgie Jones, the young cousin of his wife Robin was trying to restrain him and Patrick went to help her.

"What are you doing?" Patrick asked, gently pushing Johnny back down onto the bed.

"I need to get out of this hospital and find my wife…" Johnny said, pushing Patrick's hands away.

"No… you need to sit back and rest…" Patrick ordered.

"No, you don't understand…" Johnny said.

"What am I going to tell Lulu when you walk out of here and you die? How am I supposed to tell Lulu that she's a widow?" Patrick asked.

"I need to find Lulu… you can't stop me… I have a right to refuse medical treatment." Johnny said.

Patrick let Johnny go and sighed heavily. There was no stopping him from leaving this hospital room. In a way, Patrick admired Johnny's determination to find Lulu… there was something tragically heroic about it… willing to risk his own life to look for his wife… as reckless and stupid as it was medically, it was surprisingly beautiful and refreshing to see as a human being.

"Johnny… listen to Patrick… you can't leave the hospital now! You just had major brain surgery." Georgie said.

"I don't care… Lulu needs me… she's in trouble, I know it…" Johnny protested.

"Fine, Johnny… if you want to leave, you're going to die… simple as that… I can't make you stay but just so we're clear, when Lulu comes to me and yells at me for letting you leave the hospital because if you leave, it's not a matter of if you'll die but a matter of when, I'm going to tell her that I tried and she's going to be angry at you for leaving her…" Patrick said.

"It'll be worth it if I can save her life…" Johnny muttered.

* * *

Lulu could hear her heart pounding in her chest as the man who drove the car down to the warehouse tied her hands around her back. Carly was screaming as they took Michael and Morgan into a separate room.

"Quiet!" the man that was tying up Lulu yelled at Carly.

"Careful! The boss might not want you speaking to Corinthos' wife like that!" another guard said.

"I don't give a damn how you speak to me… just give me my boys back!" Carly screamed.

"The boss is the one who wants them all dead… he doesn't give a damn about Carly or her family…" the first man said, walking towards Carly with a sinister look in his eye.

"You can do whatever you want with me… just let my kids go! Let Lulu, Michael and Morgan go!" Carly shrieked as she struggled to free herself from the rope that was tied around her hands.

Lulu understood the fear in Carly's voice now. Lulu looked down to her own stomach and thought of her own baby. She couldn't lose this baby. Johnny was counting on them to be a family… they were his chance at having a normal life. They all had a chance to be happy and if she lost this baby, he would be devastated and she couldn't do that to him… not after losing everyone important in his life. She bit her bottom lip and tried to stay calm.

"Well... well…. well… isn't this a wonderful surprise?"

Carly and Lulu perked up at the voice coming from a shrouded corner of the warehouse. The man stepped out of the shadows and Lulu's blood instantly went cold.

"You…" Lulu exhaled.

"It can't be…" Carly gasped.

A cruel smile curled upon the man's lips. A smile that Carly knew all too well but it belonged to a man that was supposed to be gone. That smile belonged to Lorenzo Alcazar.

"Missed me, Carly?" Lorenzo asked, coolly.


	21. Rescue Me

**A/N:** Ok… this one is long but a lot of stuff happens in this chapter so it's justified… and the next/last chapter and the epilogue is mostly wrapping up stuff and then some fluff. Oh and as a side note, as soon as I finish this story, I have another big JoLu project (besides "Homecoming") that I'm going to start but I'm having a hard time with figuring out a title so if you would like to help me with a title for the story, please let me know :) Happy reading! Don't forget to leave a review!!

**Chapter 21 – Rescue Me**

"You're—you're supposed to be dead…" Carly gasped.

Lorenzo's mouth curled into a demon like smirk and he walked over to Carly. He studied her features for a few moments, running his lean finger over her cheek and then over her lips. Lulu saw the look of disgust in Carly's eyes as he touched her.

"And yet… here I am," he said.

"Leave her alone!" Lulu screamed.

He turned around to the smaller blonde in the other chair. He laughed and made his way over to Lulu.

"Lulu… Lulu… still mouthing off, aren't we?" he taunted.

"Still a heartless bastard, aren't we?" Lulu fired back and Lorenzo laughed.

"Fiery… just like Carly… I like that…" he laughed.

"You keep away from her, Lorenzo or so help me… I'll kill you myself!" Carly hissed.

"Easy, Carly… no need to get violent…" he said mockingly, backing away from Lulu.

"Sonny and Jason are going to find out what you're up to and—" Carly started.

"Oh, I'm not worried about Sonny and Jason… by the time they figure everything out… you two will already be dead and I'll have already won round one…" he said.

Lorenzo pulled out a sleek silver gun out of the large black overcoat that he was wearing. He smiled maliciously as he loaded a brand new clip into the gun. Lulu's eyes never left his hands as he handled the gun. This was it. She and Carly were going to die in this rusty and decaying warehouse. Her thoughts instantly went to Johnny. He had already lost so much… his mother, his father to his own mind, and his sister. He had no one except for Lulu and their baby and now he was going to lose them too. Tears sprung to her eyes. She wanted everything that life had to offer for Johnny even if she wasn't a part of it.

"How about you first, Carly?" Lorenzo asked, sliding the gun underneath her narrow chin.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" Carly asked.

"Why? You really have **the nerve** to ask me that?" he hissed.

"I asked, didn't I?" Carly said with an air of defiance in her voice.

"Well… let's have a history lesson then, shall we? Once upon a time… not too long ago… you meant the world to me… my entire existence revolved around you… and it didn't matter to me that you were married and had a family of your own… I thought that you were the love of my life… that was until you wrote me out of your life as if I was some sort of parasite and what we had didn't matter!" he yelled.

"It wasn't like that and you know it!" she cried.

"I gave you my life, Carly! And then you just spat on it like it was nothing!" he hissed, coming closer to her.

All this time, Carly never showed an ounce of fear. Her courage amazed Lulu. Even with death staring right back at her at the end of a barrel of a gun, Carly was still the same fearless woman that had practically raised her. She looked Lorenzo Alcazar dead in the eye and didn't even flinch. Carly had been through hell and back and being Sonny Corinthos' wife made her the tough woman that she was today.

"If that's the case, you let my kids go… this is between you and me…" she said in a hushed but firm tone.

"Oh no… I don't think I will… because this isn't between you and me… it's between you, me, and that sociopathic bastard that you call a husband… you see… everyone knows that Sonny's weakness is his family… meaning you, Michael, Morgan, and Lulu over here… and with all of you gone… I can finally take back what should've always been mine." Lorenzo said.

* * *

The cold night air nipped at Johnny's face. He knew that he was stupid to check out of the hospital against Patrick Drake's orders but he had no choice. He had to find Lulu. The Alcazars were ruthless… not even Anthony Zacchara was stupid enough to cross Luis and Lorenzo Alcazar when they were both alive. A strong gust of wind hit Johnny's face and he closed his eyes and shivered. He slowly made his way down to the docks. The white bandage was still wrapped around his throbbing forehead as he dragged himself along the docks. He couldn't be weak… this was no time to be weak or to show fatigue… if he stopped and rested for a moment, Lulu could be dead and he could never live with himself if anything happened to Lulu because of him. Suddenly, he felt the cold sensation of metal to the back of his neck.

"Not so fast, Zacchara…"

Johnny held up his hands to show that he was unarmed. He was yanked towards a nearby warehouse. He had no idea what was going on but he figured that this was a good sign that he wasn't supposed to be down at the docks. The warehouse was dark and damp. He shut his eyes to prevent another surge of pain shoot through his forehead but he opened his eyes when he heard a familiar voice.

"Let us go!!"

"Lulu," Johnny gasped.

He writhed from his captor's grasp but he quickly elbowed him in the back and Johnny groaned and fell to the ground in a useless heap. He gritted his teeth as the pain in his back and his headache seared. He then felt himself being pulled up to his feet and shoved into a larger room. He turned over onto his back and opened his eyes.

"Well, isn't this interesting? Johnny Zacchara…"

"Johnny!" Lulu cried.

He blinked slowly as the image around him focused. A tall man was standing over him with a cruel smirk on his face. He exhaled wearily and looked to his right and saw Lulu tied up in a chair, struggling to break free and with tears streaming down her face… a face he never thought he'd see again. He smiled slowly and silently thanked god that she was relatively unharmed.

"I've heard a lot about you, Johnny... especially from your beloved but rather deceased sister…"

"You're the one who killed her, didn't you, Alcazar?" Johnny managed to get out.

Lorenzo smiled mercilessly and knelt down to Johnny's level, pointing the gun at the temple of his head. Johnny heard Lulu screaming at Alcazar to leave him alone but it all blurred together as his head continued to pound.

"Let—let Lulu, Carly and the boys go… take me instead… kill me instead… with me gone, you can take over the entire Zacchara organization… just—just let them go…" Johnny panted.

"Johnny, no! You can't!" Lulu cried.

"Lulu, stay out of this! Alcazar… you let them go, I promise to give you everything… the ports, the shipping routes… anything you want…" Johnny exhaled.

"No! I won't let him kill you, Johnny!" Lulu screamed.

He looked up at his wife and tried to look strong even though he felt himself fading. Tears were falling down her face and he swallowed hard and tried to not let his resolve break. He couldn't stand to see her cry like this but he had to save her. This was the plan: get Lulu and her family out, no matter the cost. He knew that she wanted to break free from the rope that was binding her to the chair and take him in her arms and hold him until the world stopped… it was all in her eyes and the way she screamed his name but he had to do this. He had to think of her welfare and her safety before his. It was what he was supposed to do as her husband. If everything worked out in the way he planned, she and their baby would walk out of this warehouse safely.

"Interesting loyalty, Lulu… you do realize that this is Johnny Zacchara? The sworn enemy of your father?" Lorenzo asked, intrigued by the exchange between the two of them.

"Sonny is my father but Johnny is my husband…" Lulu said, holding her chin up to Lorenzo and a cruel smirk spread across his face.

"Well… I think that I'm going to have a great time making you watch your husband die right before your eyes." Lorenzo growled.

* * *

Spinelli rushed to the door of Jason's penthouse and knocked furiously. Jason hadn't been picking up any of his phone calls probably because he was on the phone with security trying to track down Lulu, Carly and the boys, trying to find out if his own family was safe and calming down Sonny.

_But this was important._

"Stone Cold!! A matter of upmost importance has arisen!!" Spinelli cried.

Jason came to the door and immediately grabbed Spinelli by his sweatshirt and pulled him into the apartment. He had never seen Jason lose it but Spinelli could tell that he was on the brink of doing so.

"Spinelli, I don't have time for games!" Jason screamed and Spinelli whimpered at the sternness in Jason's voice.

Jason was probably one of the only people besides Lulu and Georgie that didn't ostracize Spinelli for speaking and acting eccentrically. In fact, despite their differences, Jason was one of Spinelli's most trusted friends. They made quite the duo and even managed to live together for about a year before Sam came back into Jason's life and they got married. It was then that Spinelli moved to down the hall while Jason got the family that he had always wanted: Sam and little Danny.

"Sincerest apologies, Stone Cold… any word on fair Samantha and Junior Stone Cold?" Spinelli asked in a hushed but concerned tone.

"No… not yet…" Jason muttered, running his fingers through his cropped blond hair.

"The Jackal knows how much Stone Cold's family means to him… that is including the Valkyrie, the young Michael and Morgan Corinthos and fair Lulu…" Spinelli said.

"You said you had something important to tell me," Jason muttered, trying to take the focus off him.

Spinelli opened his mouth to say something when another person came to the door. Jason rushed to the door and opened it, hoping that it would be someone with news about what was going on. Sonny Corinthos strode into the penthouse, with his face set in a concentrated stare ahead of him.

"Jason… what the hell is going on?" Sonny ordered.

Jason sighed heavily. There was no way that he could stand there and lie to the man that had been his mentor and like a brother to him. Jason swallowed hard and walked over to Sonny slowly.

"The car that was taking Carly, Lulu and the boys got hijacked…" Jason started.

"And you have no idea where my family is?" Sonny asked.

Sonny turned away from Jason and walked towards the door. Spinelli immediately got out of Sonny's way as his fist slammed against the door, sending a loud cracking sound through the apartment.

"I've got Max and everyone on our staff on this, Sonny… we're going to find Carly and your kids…" Jason promised.

Sonny nodded slowly and walked back over towards Jason as a knock came to the door. Max walked in quickly and was instantly taken aback by Sonny's presence in the penthouse.

"Don't worry… he knows… is there any news?" Jason asked.

"Sam and Danny are safe… they made it to a safehouse on the Canadian border about forty-five minutes ago." Max said and Jason exhaled a sigh of relief.

"Thank god…What about Carly, Lulu and the boys?" Jason asked but Max shook his head and sighed heavily.

"Still no word…" Max said.

"Alright… thanks Max… please let me know if you get any information…" Jason said.

"Of course," Max said before leaving the penthouse and continuing his search.

"Stone Cold, about that important information…" Spinelli said, moving next to Jason.

"Spinelli… you shouldn't be getting involved in things like this… you're not helping… you're just going to make things worse by distracting Jason!" Sonny screamed.

"Hey! Give the kid a break! He cares about Lulu and if he has any idea where she might be, we need to take that into account… it's more than what we have so far…" Jason said.

"As I was visiting the Prince of Darkness—I mean, Johnny Zacchara, he asked me to look for anything that seemed out of sorts and—" Spinelli started.

"Spit it out, Spinelli!" Sonny barked.

"There have been suspicious financial transactions within the Alcazar crime family accounts within the past few weeks…" Spinelli said, clutching his trusted laptop close to his chest.

"Alcazar… Alcazar is dead, Spinelli!" Sonny yelled.

"Wait a minute, Sonny…" Jason started.

"No! Jason, you killed that son of a bitch a year ago!" Sonny roared.

"Maybe… maybe not… I had to move the body quickly because of the situation… he—he might've survived after I dumped him into the river." Jason said, softly.

"And once the young Zacchara found out this information, he went rushing off to the Alcazar warehouse to search for clues…" Spinelli said.

"He's going to get himself killed and Lulu—Lulu's going to be devastated if anything happens to him…" Jason started.

"Why should I care what happens to that bastard? He's been targeting Lulu for weeks just to get to me!" Sonny shouted.

"Mr. Sir… your daughter loves Johnny…" Spinelli said, softly.

"Enough of this… I'm headed down to the warehouse… if Alcazar is still alive, he has more than enough reason to want you, Carly, Lulu and the boys to suffer and I'm not about to let that happen…" Jason said, picking up his black leather jacket and heading out the door.

* * *

Lulu's heart raced as Lorenzo held the gun against Johnny's temple. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. He was practically baiting Alcazar to kill him.

"Do we have a deal? Let Lulu, Carly and the boys go and you can have everything that belongs to the Zacchara organization… all the money and the power… all yours…" Johnny exhaled.

"And what do I do if I let them go but you decide that you want your empire back?" Alcazar asked.

"You can kill me to make sure I don't…" Johnny said and Lulu let out a muffled cry.

"And make your pretty little wife a widow? Not very considerate…" Lorenzo taunted.

"If I can save her life…" Johnny muttered.

"You'd be taking mine with you if you died, Johnny…" Lulu sobbed.

"Lu…" Johnny sighed, looking up at her but she looked away.

He needed to look at him and understand why he was doing this. She was strong… she had always been strong. If anything happened to him, she would be resilient. Out of her grief, she would rise more beautiful and strong as ever but if anything happened to her and their baby… he couldn't see himself going on. She had to understand… he loved her so much that life was meaningless without her in it.

"Let them go, Lorenzo… they didn't ask for this… if there is any shred of the kindness that I saw in you before, you would let them and the boys go…" Carly finally said.

"Everything good in me you killed, Carly…" Lorenzo spat.

Suddenly, a window of opportunity presented itself to Johnny. Lorenzo's attention was focused on Carly, leaving his back facing Johnny. He immediately kicked Alcazar in the lower leg, causing him to swear loudly before he hit the floor. Johnny managed to pull himself to his feet. The gun that Lorenzo had been holding was three feet away from both of them. Lorenzo and Johnny looked at each other and immediately lunged for the gun. Johnny dove to the floor, grabbing the gun first and he quickly turned around and fired a shot right between Alcazar's eyes. Carly and Lulu screamed and averted their eyes as Alcazar fell to the floor, finally dead.

Johnny threw the gun to the ground, panting heavily from the fatigue and from killing the man that almost cost him his family. He turned around to face Lulu and he immediately came to her and began untying her. As soon as her hands were free, she flung her arms around him and sobbed. He held her as tight as he could and buried his face in the crook of her neck. He could hear her heart beating madly against his chest and he squeezed her even tighter because he thought that he would never be able to hold her ever again.

"Johnny," she cried.

"It's ok… I've got you… I've got you…" he repeated.

She ran her fingers over his face and nodded silently. He brushed away a few tears from her cheek and she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him gently. Things like this didn't happen to him. Everyone who had even been close to him was ripped away but he was holding his wife in his arms and she was ok. Miracles were a foreign concept to Zaccharas but he was living one right now.

"Are you ok?" he asked, holding her face in his hands.

"I'm fine, I think…" she whispered.

"What about the baby?" he asked as his hand went directly to her stomach.

"I think we're ok… no pain or anything…" Lulu said, easing some of her husband's concerns.

"Not that I don't love the idea of having my hands tied behind my back but could one of you help me out?" Carly asked, attempting to wriggle free from the rope, and Johnny stood up and went to untie Carly.

"I'm going to go look for Michael and Morgan…" Lulu said before disappearing around a corner of the warehouse.

"If you hurt her, I'll kill you…" Carly muttered as soon as Lulu was out of earshot and Johnny chuckled.

"I wouldn't even dream of it…" he said, finally undoing the complicated knot.

Carly shook out her hands and stood up, meeting Johnny's eyes. He could tell that she was looking for any indication that he was lying but he knew that she wouldn't find any. She folded her arms and sighed heavily.

"I know that you love her… it's easy to see… but Lulu is my daughter in every way that counts and of course I'm going to be protective… she's had it rough over the years and I don't want you to break her heart… god knows that she's gotten it broken more times than anyone needs to in this lifetime…" she said.

"And I would never do anything to hurt Lulu… she's my wife…" Johnny started but he was cut off by a voice in the distance.

"Mom!"

They both turned around and saw Michael and Morgan running towards Carly. She knelt down as both of her sons ran into her arms. Johnny sighed and smiled contently at the sight of a mother being reunited with her children. He felt an arm slip around his waist and he turned around to see Lulu standing there. He took her in his arms and kissed the top of her head as she wrapped her arms around his torso. Holding her just felt so right.

"I'm so sorry…" he whispered.

"For what?" she asked, lifting her head to look up at him

"The hospital…" he said, curling her blond hair around her ear.

"Shhh… don't worry about that… I'm just glad that you're ok…" she said, laying her head back on his chest.

"If I'd lost you…" he started.

"But you didn't… we're here and we're together…" Lulu whispered, holding his face in her hands.

"I love you… so much…" he said, resting his forehead on hers.

"I love you too…" she said before kissing him sweetly on the lips.

"Carly? Lulu? Are you in there?" a voice from the other side of the door yelled.

"Jason? Is that you?" Carly called.

The door swung open and Jason and Sonny rushed into the warehouse. Michael and Morgan immediately flew to Sonny. Carly stood up and walked over to Sonny and he took her in his arms and held her close as Jason hugged the boys. Carly stepped aside as Lulu walked towards Sonny. Neither of them said a word but everything that they needed to say was in that one moment where Lulu threw her arms around Sonny.

"What happened?" Jason asked.

"It—it was Alcazar… he got a hold of the car that we were in and brought us down here… he took Michael and Morgan away and tied me and Lulu up and then Johnny came…" Carly started.

"I tried getting them out by offering up the entire Zacchara organization but he was intent of making you and Sonny suffer…" Johnny added.

"Then what?" Jason asked.

"It just happened so fast… one minute he was talking to me and then the next minute Johnny knocks him to the ground and gets the gun and shoots him… if—if Johnny wasn't here, Lulu and I would be dead…" Carly said.

"It's true… Johnny saved both of our lives…" Lulu said.

Sonny looked from his daughter to Johnny. Could he have been wrong about Johnny Zacchara? Maybe he wasn't like his crazy old man… and maybe… just maybe, he was everything that Lulu said that he was. Sonny walked over to Johnny and did something that he never thought that he would do. He extended his hand out to Johnny. Johnny looked down and firmly shook Sonny's hand.

"Thank you for saving my family…" Sonny said.

Johnny looked past Sonny and saw Lulu smiling with her arms folded across her chest. She walked back over to Johnny and wrapped her arms around him once again. He looked down at Lulu as she took his hand and gently placed it on her stomach. Even though she was far from showing, he liked to think that their baby could feel his hand.

"Well, it's my family too…" Johnny said softly.


	22. A New Start

**A/N:** This chapter is pretty short… only because it's mostly fluff and to tie up the story. Happy reading! As a side note, I've got two other JoLu stories that are in the developmental stage and I'm going to start one as soon as Opposite Sides wraps up and then I'll start the next one when Homecoming ends. Don't forget to leave a review!!

**Chapter 22 – A New Start**

"You're checking back into the hospital…"

"I'm fine… I swear… if anyone is going to be checking into the hospital, it's you…"

Jason rolled his eyes and tried to block out the arguing that was coming from behind him. Max was driving one SUV with Johnny, Lulu and Jason while Sonny, Carly, Michael and Morgan were in the SUV behind them driven by Milo.

"Johnny, you just had major surgery and you checked out of the hospital before you were ready!" Lulu cried.

"I told you, I'm fine… I don't need to stay at the hospital for another week with doctors poking and prodding me…" Johnny said.

"Jason… can you help me out here? Please tell Johnny that he needs to go back to the hospital before something terrible happens…" Lulu said, turning to Jason.

"I swear… if you guys hadn't told me that you were married, I could've guessed it straight away…" Jason muttered. Johnny and Max snickered but Lulu rolled her eyes and turned back to her husband.

"If you die on me, Johnny Zacchara… I swear to god, I will kill you…" she said, folding her arms.

"I'm not going to die, Lulu… look at me! If I got through tonight without dying, I think I'm going to be just fine…" Johnny said.

"So where am I taking you guys?" Max chimed into the conversation.

"General Hospital," Johnny and Lulu said at the same time and Max laughed again.

"You're checking back into the hospital…" Lulu muttered.

"Lulu!" he groaned.

"Enough!" Jason yelled and the two of them quickly stopped arguing and looked up at Jason.

"You guys are just as bad as Sonny and Carly… Johnny, you need to get back into the hospital… you just had brain surgery and if anything should happen to you, Lulu would never forgive herself and we'd all have to deal with that so…" Jason started.

"Thank you," Lulu said, exasperated and Johnny rolled his eyes.

"But Lulu, just get checked out by a doctor… it won't hurt just to make absolutely sure that you're ok…" Jason added.

"But Jason! I'm fine… I really am!" Lulu cried.

"That's all I'm saying on the matter. You're both going to the hospital…" Jason said.

Lulu sat back in her seat and closed her eyes. She felt Johnny's fingers curl her golden hair around her ear and she snuggled against his chest.

"I just want to know that you and the baby are ok… you two are all that I have left…" he whispered so that Jason couldn't hear.

"I know… and we're all going to be ok… you, me and this one right in here… I can feel it…" she said, smiling, putting her hand on her stomach.

* * *

Georgie Jones was staring at the elevator doors intently. She received a phone call from Lulu, saying that she was on her way back to the hospital with Johnny and everything was alright. However, Georgie was always worried and couldn't help but to be concerned.

"Georgie… Uncle Mac is worried about you and wants you to come home…" Robin Scorpio-Drake said to her cousin as she put her hand on Georgie's shoulder.

"I can't—I can't even think about going home… not after what's happened to Lulu… I need to know if she's alright…" Georgie said, not taking her eyes off the elevator doors.

Robin opened her mouth to say something but the elevator doors opened and Lulu walked onto the hospital floor, with Johnny's arm wrapped lovingly around her. Georgie stood up and went straight to her friend, throwing her arms around Lulu's neck. Lulu hugged her tightly, laughing softly at her friend's concern.

"Oh! Thank god you're ok! I was so worried." Georgie cried.

"I'm fine… we're both alright…" Lulu said, softly.

"Which is why we're marching right over to Dr. Lee's office…" Johnny said.

"And you're marching straight over to Patrick Drake and checking yourself back into the hospital…" Lulu quipped.

"Must obey the wife, right?" Johnny asked and he and Georgie laughed.

An orderly came with a wheelchair and Johnny sat down slowly. Lulu knelt down and he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her softly. Georgie listened to them exchange I Love You's and kiss again. Lulu held his hand until his fingertips slipped through hers as the orderly wheeled Johnny down the hall. Georgie smiled and turned to Lulu.

"I envy you…" Georgie exhaled.

"What?" Lulu asked.

"Before you get the wrong idea… I love Spinelli with all of my heart and I'm not out to take your husband…" Georgie laughed.

"I believe you…" Lulu said, smiling.

"Your relationship with Johnny… it's—it's legendary… you've always told me that you wanted your own love story like Sonny and Carly and your biological parents and I think you have that with Johnny…" Georgie said.

"I think so too…" Lulu said.

"Ok, let's go get you checked out… Auntie Georgie is going to make sure that Mommy Lulu and baby Zacchara are going to be healthy and happy…" Georgie said.

* * *

Johnny sat in his hospital bed anxiously. Lulu should've been finished with her appointment with Dr. Lee by now and he hoped that she would come and see him after she was done. The door opened and the last person he expected to see walked into the room.

"Well, this is a surprise…" Johnny muttered.

Sonny Corinthos laughed and closed the door behind him. Johnny sat up as Sonny came over to his bedside. Johnny folded his arms across his chest as Sonny pulled up a chair next to him.

"How're you feeling?" Sonny asked.

"Ok, I guess… but I can't imagine why you would care…" Johnny said, crossing his arms.

"Ok, maybe I was wrong about you… you're not your father or sister but I just wanted to come and thank you again for saving my family… I know that you didn't have to do it but I'm—I'm grateful that you did…" Sonny said.

"Sonny… when are you going to stop thinking that I'm out to get you? I've never wanted to harm you or your family…" Johnny said.

"I—I understand that now…" Sonny said softly.

"I didn't save your family for you… I did it for Lulu…" Johnny said.

"Because you love her," Sonny said.

"Yes… more than anything…" Johnny exhaled. Sonny nodded and stood up. Johnny watched Sonny cross the room intently. He hoped that Sonny finally believed his sincerity.

"I'm… I'm forever in your debt… you saved my wife and my children… if there's anything that I can do for you…" Sonny started.

"I actually, I have two things that I need you to do for me…" Johnny said and Sonny raised an eyebrow.

"Ok…" Sonny said, skeptically.

"First… I want you to buy me out of the business…" Johnny said.

Sonny sat back, clearly shocked by Johnny's proposal. He crossed his arms and studied Johnny's face, trying to figure out if he was serious. Sonny's brow furrowed as he locked eyes with Johnny's but Sonny couldn't sense an agenda or a plot.

"Well, I'm afraid to ask what the second part is…" Sonny laughed.

"I need to know if you'll do this for me before I ask you the second part…" Johnny stated.

"You're willing to give up the business that your father built from scratch without even flinching?" Sonny asked.

"I don't want to become my father… and after my mother died, my dad had no reason to get out…" Johnny started.

"And you do?" Sonny asked.

"My family…" Johnny said.

At that moment, Lulu opened the door to Johnny's room. Both Johnny and Sonny looked up and Lulu smiled at them. She walked over to Johnny's bed and kissed him on the forehead and he wrapped his arms around her.

"How's everything?" Johnny asked.

"Everything's fine…" Lulu muttered affectionately as she ran her fingers through his hair.

"No complications?" Johnny asked.

"Why would there be any complications?" Sonny asked.

Lulu and Johnny looked at each other. They couldn't keep this baby a secret for much longer. Johnny nodded and Lulu sighed and walked over to Sonny. She took his hand, squeezed it gently and sighed heavily.

"I'm—I'm pregnant, Sonny… Johnny and I are going to have a baby…" she exhaled and the weight of her words hit him.

"That's—well—are—are you ok with this?" Sonny stammered and Johnny took Lulu's hand and smiled at her.

"We're more than ok with this…" Johnny said and she smiled warmly at him.

Sonny looked at his daughter and saw the sheer joy in her face when she looked at her husband. This was all that he ever wanted for Lulu. He wanted to see that light in her eyes every single day and if Johnny Zacchara did that for her, then he wanted her with him. Carly walked by Johnny's room, saw Sonny and Lulu talking and strolled in.

"Well, isn't this turning out to be a family moment?" Carly laughed and Lulu went to hug her.

"I can't imagine that Carly is too excited about being a grandmother…" Sonny laughed.

Carly's eyes widened and looked to the couple and Johnny and Lulu smiled sheepishly. Sonny guessed that Carly didn't know about Lulu's pregnancy and quickly pursed his lips. Carly dropped Lulu's hand and looked at Lulu for some sort of explanation.

"You're pregnant?" Carly asked, completely shocked.

"Yeah… I am…" Lulu said, biting her bottom lip.

"Oh my—are—are you alright? Did you get checked out by an OBGYN?" Carly asked.

"Yes… I got checked out by Dr. Lee and she says that everything is fine… the baby is fine…" Lulu said.

"Are you sure? We should get another doctor because—" Carly started but Lulu calmed her down.

"Carly… I'm fine… I don't need another doctor…" Lulu said.

"Carly, will you just let it go? Lulu said that she's fine…" Sonny said.

"I'm sorry… I can't help but to worry! Lulu is going to have a baby! Oh my god… I'm not technically going to be a grandmother, right? Not until Michael or Morgan have kids…" Carly went on and Sonny, Lulu and Johnny began laughing.

"I think we can settle on Auntie Carly or Nana or something…" Lulu giggled.

"Well, I'm up for Grandpa… I'm not Carly, I don't have age issues…" Sonny said and Carly swatted him on his shoulder.

"I do **not** have age issues!" Carly growled and Johnny and Lulu howled with laughter as Sonny and Carly continued with their banter.

"So why are you even here then, Sonny?" Carly asked.

"I came to talk to my son-in-law… is that a problem?" Sonny fired back.

"Since when do you refer to Johnny Zacchara as your son-in-law?" Carly asked.

"Since he asked me to buy him out of the business… for Lulu and for the baby…" Sonny said.

Lulu looked to Johnny with a confused expression. Did she just hear Sonny correctly? Johnny asked Sonny to buy him out of the business for her and their family? Johnny saw the expression on his wife's face and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close.

"You asked Sonny to buy the Zacchara organization from you?" Lulu asked in a hushed voice.

"I did…" Johnny said.

"Why?" Lulu asked.

"Because I won't become my father… I have a reason to get out of the business… I have you and this baby and I won't let the business leave its horrible mark on our family… I don't have to be bound by that anymore…" Johnny said, running his hand up and down her back.

"Is that what you really want?" Sonny asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Everything I could ever want is standing right here…" Johnny said, looking to Lulu.

"And you said that you had something else to ask me?" Sonny asked.

"Yes… I'd like to know how you would feel about Lulu and I moving out of Port Charles…" Johnny said.

Sonny and Carly looked to each other and Johnny suddenly became nervous for asking to move his wife and unborn baby away from the only family that she had.

"You want to take away my daughter?" Sonny asked skeptically.

"Sonny, that's not what Johnny's asking…" Carly muttered.

"I'm not asking you… I'm asking Johnny…" Sonny said.

"Fine! Have you guys talked about this at all? It sounds like it's out of nowhere…" Carly said.

"Just like this marriage…" Sonny muttered and Carly hit his shoulder harder this time.

"Sonny!" Lulu hissed but Johnny laughed.

"Where would you move?" Carly asked.

"I don't know yet… somewhere where we can have a big backyard for this one right here to run around…" Johnny said, putting his hand on Lulu's stomach.

"And you can't find a place in Port Charles? And besides, Lulu goes to school here..." Sonny started.

"Sonny! They're adults… and they're married and can go wherever they want and besides… Lulu's smart and can get into any school that she wants to…" Carly fought back.

Sonny looked from his wife to his daughter and sighed heavily. He walked over to Johnny and extended his hand out to him. Johnny clasped his hand and shook it firmly. Lulu and Carly smiled at the silent agreement between their men. As much as she loved her family and as scared as she was to leave her hometown, she was happy to start a new chapter in her life. She would finally be able to write her own story… with her, Johnny, this baby, and anything else that came along for the ride.


	23. Epilogue

**A/N:** Here's the last part of Opposite Sides! I want to thank all of you guys who've been with me since the beginning and those of you who just happen to stumble upon Opposite Sides later or even if this is the first time you've ever read Opposite Sides. Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you!! As always, please leave a comment and look out for new stories, courtesy of yours truly! :)

**Epilogue – 8 Months Later…**

Johnny sighed happily as he shut the accounts book. He looked up and surveyed his surroundings. He was standing in his newly opened Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. It wasn't his father's and it wasn't a front for some illegal operations for his family or his father-in-law, Sonny Corinthos.

The restaurant was his. 

They opened about three months ago and due to the great reviews and Emilio, the Zacchara villa cook who Johnny insisted head the kitchen in his new restaurant, it was now one of the premier places to eat in the city. Johnny was surprised that they had booked reservations up until New Year's, which was almost four months away. However, Johnny worked hard to make the restaurant successful and it paid off. He finally had something to show his kids… something that wasn't built from the blood of others… something his children could be proud of.

"Mr. Zacchara?"

Johnny turned around and saw Emilio standing in front of him. He smiled at the stout man.

"How many times have I told you to call me Johnny or John, Emilio? You've known me since I was five years old." Johnny laughed.

"Oh, I could never… you are my boss…" Emilio said politely, like he always did.

"I'm giving you permission… Mr. Zacchara sounds like my father or like I'm fifty years old…" Johnny said.

"I have the new menu choices ready for you if you would like to look at them now, Mr. Zacchara." Emilio said, handing him a small stack of papers.

"Emilio… please, call me Johnny or at least John… I insist…" Johnny said, taking the menu choices from the chef, and Emilio began to laugh.

"What is it?" Johnny asked.

"Oh, I just remembered something that Claudia said about you when she lived in the villa… she would be so proud of you… and she would love that this restaurant is named after her…" Emilio said.

Johnny smiled weakly and turned to the small picture that he had in his accounts book of the two of them when they were young. It was Lulu's idea to name the restaurant after Claudia. She knew how much Claudia meant to him and when they sat up for days, trying to figure out a name, she just perked up and said **Claudia's**. After that, everything just fell into place with the restaurant. Obviously, the décor was in red, Claudia's favorite color, plush white dining chairs, and black and white photos of Claudia when she modeled for a few years in Italy were up on the walls. It was perfectly Claudia.

"I would like to think that she would've liked it…" Johnny said softly and Emilio put his hand on Johnny's shoulder.

"So, are you a dad yet?" Emilio asked with a grin on his face and Johnny smiled.

"No… not yet… she's waiting for the perfect moment to make her debut… I think that she's got a little bit too much of Carly's personality already…" Johnny laughed.

"So you know that it's a girl?" Emilio asked.

"I don't know for sure… neither of us know for sure… Lulu wanted it to be a surprise but I've got a feeling that it's going to be a girl…" Johnny said with a proud grin.

"And if it's a boy?" Emilio asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Then I'll be the first one in line at the store to buy baseball gloves, basketballs, skateboards and all of that stuff…" Johnny laughed.

* * *

Lulu looked in the mirror and groaned. She had never felt so unattractive in her life. Johnny insisted that she looked as beautiful as she always did but he was required to say that. Her hormones were all over the place and the smallest thing would set her off so Johnny opted for the safer route: lying. Her nine month pregnant stomach could barely be contained by her oversized t-shirt and maternity sweatpants. She knew in her heart that Johnny loved her even when she was as big as a whale and she believed him when he told her that she had never looked more beautiful than she did when she was pregnant. Maybe Johnny was crazy for doing so because she didn't understand it fully herself. He just never stopped being wonderful even after things in their marriage calmed down after their move from Port Charles to Los Angeles. She half expected Johnny to get bored or to lose interest in her because she wasn't the unattainable daughter of his enemy but he was just as caring, doting and loving as he was then. Suddenly, she felt the baby kick and she put her hand on her stomach.

"Well if you don't like it in there, you don't have to stay…" Lulu muttered.

She looked to the clock on the bathroom counter. It was 11:47, meaning Johnny should be on his way home by now. The restaurant stopped serving at 11:00 on Sundays and Johnny stayed for inventory on the weekends, which were the busiest days for Claudia's.

"Are you anxious for daddy to come home?" Lulu whispered and the baby did another flip in her stomach and Lulu laughed.

"Me too…" she said, smiling.

Lulu waddled out of the bathroom and across the living room into the kitchen. She opened up the fridge and laughed. Johnny had restocked the freezer with all of her favorite flavors of ice cream: Mint Chocolate Chip, Cookie Dough, Rocky Road, and Cookies and Cream. She bit her bottom lip as she agonized over which ice cream to down first. Lulu was never a huge chocolate eater but this baby just brought it out of her. Chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, fudge brownies, and Milky Way bars were this baby's favorite foods. She and Johnny joked that they should name the baby Hershey or Nestle because of the amount of chocolate consumption that this baby needed. Lulu's hand reached for the Cookie Dough but the baby kicked again.

"You're a little tyrant, you do know that right? There is no question that Johnny Zacchara is your dad…" Lulu grumbled, putting down the Cookie Dough and picking up the small tub of Rocky Road.

The baby stopped kicking, presumably in contentment over the correct choice in ice cream flavor. Lulu then heard the garage door open outside, went to the window and saw Johnny's car pull into the garage. She smiled and began to meet Johnny at the front door when she suddenly felt strange. She didn't recall losing control of her own bladder but that's exactly what she felt had just happened. She looked down and found herself standing in a puddle of water.

"Oh my—" she started but she was interrupted by Johnny.

"Hey gorgeous…" he said, opening the door. He looked up at his wife, holding her stomach, standing in a pool of water and with a shocked expression on her face.

"Johnny… I think—I think my water just broke." Lulu whispered and Johnny dropped everything that was in his hands. He rushed over to his wife, grasped her hands and exhaled shakily.

"Ok—ok… we have the bags with everything ready to go… we're going to drive down to the hospital and we'll call Carly, Sonny, Jason and Sam…" he started.

"And Georgie and Spinelli… I need Georgie there…" she whimpered.

"Of course… and remember what the doctor said about your breathing, Lu…" he said, gently taking her by the arm and leading her towards the door.

Lulu nodded and began her breathing exercises. This was it. After months and months of hypothetical situations, dreams and wishes, this baby that was inside of her was on his or her way out. Johnny picked up the suitcase that had everything that Lulu needed for her hospital stay in it and they walked out to the car. She squeezed his hand tightly, coming to the realization that this baby was real and was coming and Johnny could sense some fear in his wife.

"Everything's going to be fine, Lulu…" he whispered.

"You promise?" she asked, squeezing his hand.

"I promise…" he said, opening the door for her.

* * *

Jason rolled his eyes as he sat in his seat on Sonny's chartered airplane. It was close to four o'clock in the morning and Carly and Sam still managed to find something else to spar over. And for once in his life, Jason's revered patience was beginning to wear thin.

"Jason, can you please tell your wife that if she's going to complain about the time… she can take herself home and catch a domestic flight later!" Carly snapped.

"I'm sorry but you don't have a baby at home that wakes up every few hours! Jason, will you tell Carly to just leave me alone?" Sam fired back.

"Hey! This isn't about you two… Lulu just went into labor and asked us all to be there… so both of you just sit on opposite sides of the plane and go to sleep!" Jason barked.

Sonny, who was standing behind the two sparring women, snorted as Sam and Carly marched to their respective places on the plane and curled up in their plush chairs. The brief moment of tranquility was interrupted when Spinelli and Georgie piled onto the plane.

"Greetings!" Spinelli said cheerfully and Carly and Sam groaned.

"Um… Spinelli, maybe we should just go sit over there…" Georgie said, ushering him the nearest window seat that happened to be close to Jason.

"Where are Michael, Morgan and Danny?" Georgie whispered to Jason.

"Leticia is bringing them over tomorrow on another flight…" Jason yawned.

"The Valkyrie and Fair Samantha seem to be at odds once again…" Spinelli said quietly.

"What else is new?" Jason asked matter-of-factly and Georgie snickered.

"But why?" Spinelli asked.

"Because Carly is being ridiculous and picking fights to make herself feel better so she won't have to think about becoming a grandmother…" Sam said loudly.

"Oh no…" Georgie said but sure enough Carly sat up quickly and reacted even faster.

"Ok, I've had it with you, Sam! You don't even belong here! You're not even family!" Carly screamed.

"Enough! Both of you! Just do us all a favor and don't talk to each other for the rest of the flight!" Jason yelled.

Georgie and Sonny laughed and Spinelli uncovered his ears as he saw both Carly and Sam turn away from each other. Georgie curled up next to Spinelli and he put his arm around her and smiled contently. Jason stood up and walked over to his wife and took her in his arms as she slept. Sonny and Carly sat close, whispering to each other as they held hands. This rather strange assortment of people were, inexplicably, a family and as the plane took off, heading west, all that each person could think about was meeting this new little person who was going to join this crazy mixed up family unit.

* * *

"So, asking you if you're ok would probably get something thrown at me, right?"

Lulu looked up sharply at her husband with rage in her eyes. That was probably the dumbest question that Johnny had ever asked and she was just about to tell him so when another contraction seared through her stomach. She gritted her teeth and squeezed his hand tightly. No one told her that child birth was going to be this painful.

"Ok, I'm going to take that as a yes…" Johnny said and Lulu laughed miserably.

"I love you, Johnny… but that really was the worst question that you could ask right now…" she said and Johnny laughed.

"Ok, I'll be quiet… I promise…" he said.

"No, I don't want you to be quiet… I need you to talk to me… I need you to talk me through this…" she said and he nodded.

"Ok… um… we still need a name, right? So, let's think of some names… which ones did you like again? Trixibelle? Calliope?" he joked and Lulu laughed.

"You think you're just **so** funny, don't you? Ok… so if it's a boy…" she started.

"We're not naming him after Spinelli… Sorry, I draw the line right there…" he quipped.

"Damien Zacchara? You don't like it?" she asked and Johnny raised his eyebrow in skepticism.

"You do?" he asked.

"Ok… maybe not…" she groaned, putting her head in her hands.

"Hey, if this is going to stress you out, we can figure out a name later…" he said, caressing her arm.

"No! My child is going to have a name when he or she comes out… this baby isn't going to be in the nursery with the other ones and not have a name!" she cried, clutching her stomach.

"You're acting like the other day old babies are going to be making fun of our baby for not having a name!" he laughed.

"Kids these days are very perceptive…" she muttered and Johnny howled with laughter.

She looked over to her husband and couldn't help but to smile as she saw him laughing freely. It took her a while to get used to it but he did smile and laugh more often. Shedding the business seemed to lift an insurmountable weight off Johnny's shoulders and he could breathe easier. His deep brown pensive eyes met hers and he bent over and kissed her slowly.

"I love you…" he whispered.

"I love you too…" she whispered back.

He was just about to kiss her again but another contraction took a hold over Lulu and she squeezed his hand tightly until the contraction subsided.

"Johnny…" she whimpered.

"I'm right here… squeeze as hard as you need to, Lulu…" he said softly.

"I'm going to kill you for doing this to me…" she said meekly and he laughed.

"Oh, I already know…" Johnny chuckled as he ran his fingers through her blond hair.

* * *

Georgie Jones rushed to the doors of the hospital, dragging a whining Spinelli along behind her. She had just gotten off the phone with Lulu and she said that she was almost fully dilated. There was no way that she was going to miss the birth of this baby because Spinelli couldn't suck it up and keep up with her pace. She turned the corner and went straight for the nurse's station.

"Hi, I'm—I'm looking for—Lulu Zacchara…" Georgie said, completely out of breath.

"Oh… yes, her husband told us that he and his wife were expecting a large party… aren't there more of you?" the nurse at the desk asked.

"Yes… there are more of us but they're parking the car right now… can we go and see Lulu?" Georgie asked.

"What is your name?" the nurse asked, scribbling on her pad.

"Georgie Jones… and this is Damien Spinelli… we're friends of Lulu's…" Georgie said.

"Georgie Jones… yes, Lulu's been asking for you… right down the hallway… only one visitor at a time…" the nurse said.

Georgie looked over to Spinelli and he nodded. The nurse led her down the hallway towards Lulu's room. Georgie knocked softly on the door and pushed it open gently. Lulu looked up and smiled at her best friend.

"Georgie!" Lulu cried and Georgie went straight to her friend's bedside and hugged her.

"Oh my god! Hi! It feels like it's been ages since I've seen you?" Georgie said hugging her.

"I know… I must look horrible… like a big fat cow…" Lulu lamented as she clutched Georgie's hand.

"Oh stop it! Even though you're in labor, you're still glowing…" Georgie laughed.

"I know… I tried telling her but she didn't believe me…" Johnny laughed.

"You should listen to your husband more often…" Georgie said, squeezing Lulu's hand.

"Speaking of husbands… come on… let me see that ring that Spinelli gave you!" Lulu said, reaching for Georgie's left hand.

Georgie blushed as both Lulu and Johnny admired her engagement ring. Sure it wasn't as big as Lulu's, Carly's or Sam's rings, mostly because the amount of money that came along with buying a ring to rival those of the three of them would take about five of Spinelli's salaries. However, Spinelli knew that the size of the diamond wasn't important to her and she was proud to show off her ring to anyone who noticed it.

"That's gorgeous…" Lulu said.

"Congratulations… didn't know that Spinelli would ever get the nerve to ask you…" Johnny said, smiling. Another contraction hit Lulu and this time she gripped both Georgie and Johnny's hands. Her grip loosened as her contraction passed and she relaxed back onto her pillow.

"Truthfully… how much does it hurt right now?" Georgie asked.

"There are no words…" Lulu said through gritted teeth.

* * *

The entire clan rotated. After Georgie, Spinelli followed, bearing a little toy computer for the baby. According to him, it was never too early to expose the young Zacchara prodigy to the wonders of technology. Carly insisted on going next and she insisted that she was adamant on her official title as "Nana Carly". Sonny came next and he couldn't stop smiling and telling Lulu how proud he was of her. Sam was next, bearing toy boats and saying that they were unisex toys and that as soon as the baby was old enough, she would teach him or her how to pilot a boat. Jason was last, carrying a huge stack of travel books for every single continent, filled with vivid pictures.

"Ok, Mrs. Zacchara… I'm going to need you to sit up… it's time to push…" the doctor said.

Lulu looked up at Johnny, her eyes were filled with fear but Johnny kissed her forehead and grasped her hand tightly. It was just them right now. She shifted in the bed as the doctor positioned himself accordingly. She mustered up all of the strength that she had and pushed. Her entire body was shaking and Johnny's hand was turning bright red from squeezing it so hard.

"You're doing great, Lulu… a few more pushes like that and your baby will be here any moment…" the doctor said, smiling.

"Fantastic…"

"Ok… one… two… three… push…" Johnny said and on his word, Lulu pushed. The pain was absolutely excruciating… like nothing she had ever experienced before. Johnny gently wiped the sweat that was gathering on her forehead with one hand and lent his other hand to help Lulu push. She then cried out sharply and collapsed back onto the bed.

"Great! I can see the baby's head… just one more push and you'll be able to hold your new baby…" the doctor said.

"One more push?" Lulu whined.

She sat up again and pushed for the last time. As soon as she heard the shrill cry of their baby, Lulu's entire body relaxed back onto the bed, her heart pounding against her chest. Johnny kissed the top of her head and beamed down at her.

"What—what is it?" she asked wearily and he smiled at her.

"It's a girl…" Johnny said, happily.

Lulu smiled back at Johnny as he squeezed her hand gently, knowing how much he wanted a girl. From the moment that she told him that she was pregnant, he had this image of having a daughter and now that he did, it was the best feeling in the entire world to see him this happy. It may have made up for the entire birthing process and the pain that went along with it. She watched as he cut the umbilical cord, with the proudest grin on his face. It was the dad grin and it looked so good on him. The doctor cleaned up the baby quickly and wrapped her snugly in a pastel pink blanket and handed her to Johnny. He held her like a prized china vase as he walked slowly back over towards Lulu.

"Hi," he breathed as he sat right beside Lulu. He couldn't take his eyes off his daughter, and Lulu chuckled.

"Let me see… oh, she's gorgeous, Johnny…" she said.

"Of course she is… she's my daughter…" he said triumphantly and Lulu laughed.

"Oh I think we're going to be fighting over you for the next few years because you are just too cute…" she whispered.

"Few years? I'll be fighting for her until she gets married…" Johnny said, running one finger over her tiny little hand.

"Look at you… barely even thirty minutes old and you've already got your daddy wrapped around your finger…" she said, running her fingers along her soft patch of dark brown hair on the top of her little head.

"What can I say? I've got a weakness for pretty girls…" he said, looking up at Lulu. She leaned in to kiss him but the baby started to cry.

"Ok, that's your cue…" Johnny laughed as he handed the baby over to Lulu.

She rolled her eyes at him and began to soothe her daughter by talking to her in a hushed voice. Johnny watched in awe as his wife just sat there and rocked their tiny daughter in her arms, speaking in gibberish. This was all that mattered to him in the world: Lulu and his daughter. He finally understood how men could go doughy-eyed and soft when they had a family. He walked over to the CD player that Lulu insisted that they bring and put on the CD that they made together of soft classical music to listen to while Lulu was pregnant. As soon as Johnny put on _Clair de Lune_, the baby immediately stopped crying. Lulu looked up at Johnny in disbelief and smiled.

"She recognizes the song… she's going to sleep…" she said, smiling.

"My girl has taste…" Johnny said, walking back over to the bed.

"Clair de Lune… your favorite… she really is your daughter…" Lulu said softly and Johnny looked down at the baby, holding onto Lulu's finger as she fell asleep.

"Claire… Claire Maria Zacchara… what do you think?" he whispered as he looked back at Lulu and she smiled.

"I love it…" she said.

"What about you? Do you like the name Claire?" he asked the baby and the little girl yawned and then smiled before closing her eyes again.

"I think she likes it…" Lulu whispered. Johnny smiled and leaned into kiss her when there was a knock on the door. He groaned and called to whoever was at the door to come in.

"I have to see this beautiful baby!"

Johnny and Lulu looked up and saw Carly, flanked by Sonny, Jason, Sam, Georgie and Spinelli. They saw that the baby had fallen asleep and quickly shushed Carly. Johnny and Lulu laughed as they all rallied around Lulu and the baby.

"Oh, she's gorgeous… isn't she, Jason?" Sam cooed, wrapping her arm around her husband's arm and Jason agreed.

"Did you guys ever decide on a name?" Georgie asked and Johnny and Lulu looked at each other and smiled.

"Her name is Claire… Claire Maria Zacchara…" Lulu said, gently rocking Claire in her arms.

"That's a beautiful name… a beautiful name for a beautiful little girl…" Sonny said softly as he wrapped his arms around Carly.

"Welcome to the family, Claire…" Carly said, gently touching stroking the top of her head.

* * *

The group stayed for a while but then slowly broke off, letting Lulu and Johnny rest after hours of being surrounded by doctors. After the entire Corinthos-Morgan (and-soon-to-be-Spinelli) crowd left for their hotel, Johnny came back over to the bed and wrapped his arms around Lulu. Claire was sleeping peacefully in her bassinet right next to Lulu's bedside. She exhaled contently and buried her face into her husband's warm and sweet smelling chest. This was what happiness felt like. After everything that they had been through, they deserved some happiness, didn't they?

"Lulu," he whispered, running his fingers through her hair.

"Mhm?" she asked, tilting her head up to him.

"Everything that matters to me in this world… is in this room right now…" he said before he kissed her forehead.

She smiled at him and cupped his face in her hands. He leaned over and rested his forehead on hers. She knew that he was trying not to be emotional and she kissed him softly on the cheek and his hands wrapped around her waist.

"I love you, Johnny…" she whispered.

"I love you too, Lulu…" he whispered back with a smile on his face.

He sat back on the bed, taking her with him as she put her head back on his chest. He ran his hand up and down her back and watched as her eyelids started to droop. He chuckled as Lulu tried with all of her might to stay up. He looked over to Claire's bassinet and he discovered that his daughter had inherited Lulu's trademark snore. This was his family. This was how things were supposed to be: him, Lulu and now little Claire to complete the family that he had always wanted. The family that finally made him complete. He smiled and closed his eyes. From these past months with Lulu, he knew that the next fifty… sixty… seventy years hopefully… was going to be nothing short of an adventure.

_And he couldn't wait to start._

**THE END**


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